Palace launch celebration of Black Legacy in British Football
In recognition of Black History Month, Crystal Palace, in collaboration with The FA and Surrey FA, last week launched an exhibition, Celebrating Black Legacy in British Football, in an event at Selhurst Park.
October marks the UK’s Black History Month, the theme for which is ‘Standing Firm in Power and Pride’ – a time to collectively celebrate the strength of our diversity, on and off the pitch.
Celebrating Black Legacy in British Football was created to showcase a number of pioneers who shaped the game and their wider impact on society, with a particular focus on South London and Surrey. This included Palace’s first 11 Black players starting with Tony Collins in 1950s, and featured legends such as Mark Bright and John Salako in the 1980s, all the way through to current stars Chris Richards and Allyson Swaby.
The exhibition aims to shine a light on the achievements of Black football pioneers, share their journeys with our communities, and encourage people to think about the foundations today’s players and society are built on.
After initially being displayed at Palace’s Academy, and following a successful launch event at Selhurst – followed up by a lunch event for Palace’s internal staff – the exhibition will soon be displayed across local grassroots clubs, allowing people across South London and Surrey to learn from and connect with this history.
Some of the exhibition content will also be on display in the Fanzone for the Men's dedicated Palace for All game against Brentford at Selhurst Park on Saturday (1st November), and the Women's dedicated game against Sheffield United at the VBS Community Stadium the following weekend (Sunday, 9th November).
Last week’s official launch saw a range of assembled invited guests attend Selhurst Park to see the exhibition and enjoy an evening of networking, discussion and reflection.
At its core was an in-depth discussion, hosted by Jamie Dapaah, EDI Communities Lead for the London Region at the FA, with panellists Mark Bright (Director of U23 Development at Palace’s Academy), Rachel Williams (Policy and Public Affairs Manager at Women in Sport), David Gleave (author of Football’s Black Pioneers) and Saffron Renzullo (Co-Founder of Inter Melanin FC, a community platform encouraging Black women, women of colour, trans and non-binary footballers).
Williams said during the discussion: “Local clubs like Palace, like all the other amazing institutions you've got in South London, allow young boys and young girls to find the sports that they love – whether that's football or whether it's something else.
“You have the infrastructure here, you have the facilities, but more importantly, you've got the people, you've got their history, and you've got that tradition of really loving the game. You’ve got families who go and watch whatever sport they want to watch together, and that's massive, particularly for building trust amongst groups who maybe don't see themselves represented in sport as often as they should.
“Having a really rich sporting ecosystem in an area is just a superpower for participation, really.”
Belonging is really important, and seeing yourself in something matters
—Saffron Renzullo
Gleave said of the goals of his research in Football’s Black Pioneers: “We wanted to try and make sure that the kind of stories that we were telling, about the racism players faced, weren't going to come back.
“We were trying to say ‘let's never ever go down that road again’. I don't think a book's going to solve it, but it's about bringing these stories out.”
Renzullo spoke of her own experiences in forming Inter Melanin: “I think in order to feel like you’re a part of something, you need to see yourself in it. That's how you feel like you belong – creating a space and seeing yourself in that space. Belonging is really important, and seeing yourself in something matters.”
And Bright spoke of his own recollections of facing racist abuse during his playing days: “Everybody had to get on with it. There was no one to go and speak to, you just had to battle through it. You needed courage to get on the ball, and your thing.
“Now, you still need the courage to go out there and play and perform. But, you know, the barriers are there [to abuse] now – you don't get that 5,000 people singing – so it's improved.
“There’s a long way to go, but it is way better – and it continues to move forward.”
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