A general view of ‘The Three Degrees’ statue of West Bromwich Albion's most celebrated black players from the 1980's era Brendon Batson, Cyrille Regis and Laurie Cunningham
PLYMOUTH Argyle’s Jack Leslie was selected to play for the England football team against Northern Ireland on October 25 1925, then inexplicably dropped — the reason being, he was black.
In the event, Leslie ended up scoring twice for Argyle, who cruised to a 7-2 victory over Bournemouth on the day of the England game. England drew 0-0.
The story of Leslie is one of the many fascinating accounts contained in Football’s Black Pioneers by Bill Hern and David Gleave.
ROGER MCKENZIE argues that it was correct to ban the notorious Israeli side who were likely to cause trouble in Muslim areas of Birmingham, but asks, given the occupation and slaughter in Palestine, why any Israeli team is being hosted anywhere
JAMES NALTON writes on the bizarre Aston Villa v Maccabi Tel Aviv scandal
Anti-discrimination charity says players may think twice about taking penalties in future
STEVEN ANDREW welcomes a fine introduction to FC United of Manchester, the team set up in opposition to Manchester United