Is the future of football Black? (Part 2)

Main image: John Barnes leaves three Argentina defenders in his wake and crosses for Gary Lineker to score England’s lone goal in the 1986 World Cup quarter final game

In the second part of his piece on the future of football, Baffour looks at the increasing presence of Black players in the French and English national squads. You can read the first part here .

After the World Cup ended in the New Jersey stadium, some semblance of normality is returning to the world. The late-night wakes to watch our national teams and others play are gone, the replica shirts have been hung in the wardrobes, the drums have been packed, the inquisitions are running out, and another four years lie ahead of us.

In my last post , I raised the question: “Is the future of football Black?” In another 40 years, based on the current empirical evidence, will the face of global football become Black? Will it be dominated by players of African heritage? Let’s interrogate it further.

Let’s take France for instance. In 1986, France had just one black player in the 26-man squad. In 1998, it had eight; in 2018, it had 14; in 2022, it had 17 and in 2026, that figure had gone up to 23.

Here are the 23 Black players who represented France in the just-ended World Cup: (1) Kylian Mbappé, captain, heritage from Cameroon & Algeria; (2) Aurélien Tchouaméni, Cameroon; (3) William Saliba, Cameroon; (4) Ousmane Dembélé, Mali; (5) Ibrahima Konaté, Mali; (6) Jules Koundé, Benin; (7) Michael Olise, Nigeria & Algeria; ( Bradley Barcola, Togo; (9) Désiré Doué, Cote d’Ivoire; (10) Eduardo Camavinga, Angola, (11) Kingsley Coman, Guinea; (12) Jean-Philippe Mateta, DR Congo.

The rest were: (13) Steve Mandanda, DR Congo; (14) Rayan Cherki, Algeria; (15) N’Golo Kanté, Mali; (16) Malo Gusto, Martinique and Portugal; (17) Manu Koné, Cote d’Ivoire; (1 Brice Samba, Congo-Brazzaville; (19) Dayot Upamecano, Guinea Bissau & Senegal; (20) Marcus Thuram, Guadeloupe; (21) Warren Zaïre-Emery, Martinique & Cote d’Ivoire; (22) Maxence Lacroix, Madagascar and Guadeloupe; (23) Maghnes Akliouche, Algeria.

France’s neighbour to the north, England, has a similar story. In 1986, England had two Black players in its 26-man World Cup squad: Viv Anderson and John Barnes.

Anderson, in fact, had made history as the first Black to play for England at a senior level in 1978. Four years later, in 1982, he was included in England’s World Cup squad, and in 1986 he was again selected for the World Cup hosted by Mexico.

John Barnes, on the other hand, also made history in 1986 as the first Black to feature heavily for England at a World Cup finals, even though initially the England manager Bobby Robson would not start him apparently because (from my personal point of view) he was Black. England then were an all-white team, and Barnes’ black skin colour ‘did not make good optics’.

Intriguingly, Barnes had established himself back in England as one of the best players in the country, playing for Watford. But English football was not ready for Black players at the time due to racist sentiments on the terraces. English fans, can you believe it, would throw bananas at Barnes and the other Black players during games, implying that they were monkeys who did not deserve a place on an English football pitch. The trees were their home.

In an FA Cup derby against Everton at Goodison Park in 1988, two years after his wonderful exploits at the 1986 World Cup, Barnes, then 25 and playing for Liverpool after signing from Watford in 1987, taught the racists a lesson by back-heeling a banana thrown at him off the pitch. It became an iconic photograph, capturing Barnes nonchalantly flicking away the banana. He should have eaten it and waved the peels back at them!

Thus in 1986, those were the prevailing sentiments in England when coach Bobby Robson would not start Barnes at the Mexico World Cup despite his brilliance … until England were down 2-0 against arch-enemies Argentina in the quarter-final on 22 June, and the match was dangerously running away from England.

In the 74th minute, however, Bobby Robson finally mustered courage against the racist sentiments back home, and brought on Barnes (then 23) to replace midfielder Trevor Stevens. The 23-year-old made a significant impact seven minutes later, beating three Argentine defenders on the left flank in the 81st minute, and laying on a sweet cross for Gary Lineker to score England’s only goal in a 2-1 defeat. Later, Barnes nearly scored himself, and cemented his place in the England team thereafter.

John Barnes flicks off the field a banana thrown at him from the terraces in a FA Cup game against Everton at Goodison Park on 21 February 1988

Hand of God opens the door for Black players

That was the match won by Diego Maradona’s ‘hand of God’ (for the first goal in the 51st minute, scored using the outside of his left hand) and four minutes later, scoring his ‘goal of the century’ when he dribbled past five England players – Peter Beardsley, Peter Reid, Terry Butcher, Terry Fenwick, and Butcher (again) – the incredible action happening over 60 yards in 10 seconds.

Maradona finished the spectacular move “with a feint that left goalkeeper Peter Shilton on his bottom, before slotting the ball into the empty net to make the score 2-0”, as one sportswriter reported it.

What a player, Diego Maradona! L’Equipe, the French newspaper, famously described him as “half-angel, half-devil”.

His ‘hand of God’ goal, though, was pure cheating. But the Tunisian referee, Ali Ben Nasser, said he did not see the foul and allowed the goal.

At the post-match press conference, as recorded by a football historian, “Maradona facetiously commented that the goal was scored ‘ un poco con la cabeza de Maradona y otro poco con la mano de Dios’ (‘a little with the head of Maradona and a little with the hand of God’).

But knowing that he had cheated, Maradona later said: ‘I was waiting for my teammates to embrace me, and no one came … I told them, come hug me, or the referee isn’t going to allow it.”

His second goal in the 55th minute, however, was pure majesty. I watched the game live in Paris where I was a student, and I remember remarking, “Jeez, this guy is a genius.”

The goal was famously captured in Spanish by the Uruguayan journalist Victor Hugo Morales, who was doing the live commentary for the radio station LR2 Radio Argentina.

Translated into English, this was Morales at his supreme best: “He’s going to pass it to Diego, there’s Maradona with it, two men on him, Maradona steps on the ball, there goes down the right flank the genius of world football, he leaves the wing, and he’s going to pass it to Burruchaga … Still Maradona! Genius! Genius! Genius! There, there, there, there, there, there! Goaaaaaaaal! Goaaaaaaal! I want to cry, oh holy God, long live football! What a goal! Diegoal!

“Maradona! It is to cry for, excuse me! Maradona, in a memorable run, in the best play of all time! Cosmic kite, what planet did you come from, to leave so many Englishmen behind, for the country to be a clenched fist crying for Argentina? Argentina 2, England 0! Diegoal, Diegoal, Diego Armando Maradona! Thank you God for football, for Maradona, for these tears, for this Argentina 2, England 0.”

After the game, England’s Steve Hodge swapped shirts with Maradona, and after keeping Maradona’s shirt for 35 years, he donated it to the National Sports Museum. On 4 May 2022, the shirt was sold for £7,142,500 ($9.2m) by Sotheby’s in London, setting a new record for an item of sports memorabilia.

So, why have I lingered so long on this quarterfinal game in 1986? It is because it marked a defining moment, a landmark event, in John Barnes’ international football career, which opened a wide door for other Black players to be selected for the England team thereafter.

Barnes is still alive, and all these Black players earning millions of pounds in the English game today have him to thank. His superlative exploits in the England national team after 1986 paved the way for the rest of the Black players who have since donned the Three Lions shirt to come in. Barnes is a pioneer deserving a statue at Parliament Square in London. We should all be campaigning for it.

So, since 1986, England has followed in the footsteps of France, two colonial masters who have milked their association with the descendants of the people they colonised, using the excellent players among them to great advantage. For England, the score, so far, reads like this:

1990 World Cup: Three Black players in the squad (John Barnes, Paul Parker, Des Walker). 1998: Three Black players (Paul Ince, Sol Campbell, Les Ferdinand 2002: four Black players (Sol Campbell, Ashley Cole, Rio Ferdinand, Emile Heskey, Aaron Lennon 2006: five Black players (Sol Campbell, Ashley Cole, Rio Ferdinand, Theo Walcott, Aaron Lennon).

To continue: In 2010: eight Black players (David James, Glen Johnson, Ashley Cole, Rio Ferdinand, Shaun Wright-Phillips, Ledley King, Emile Heskey, Aaron Lennon 2014: six Black players (Raheem Sterling, Danny Welbeck, Daniel Sturridge, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Glen Johnson, Chris Smalling 2018: 11 Black players (Raheem Sterling, Marcus Rashford, Dele Alli, Danny Rose, Ashley Young, Jesse Lingard, Danny Welbeck, Fabian Delph, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Kyle Walker, Trent Alexander-Arnold; 2022: nine Black players (Jude Bellingham, Conor Coady, Marcus Rashford, Bukayo Saka, Raheem Sterling, Kyle Walker, Callum Wilson, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Kalvin Phillips).

And in 2026: 16 Black players (Djed Spence, Marc Guéhi, Ezri Konsa, Nico O’Reilly, Reece James, Trevoh Chalobah, Jarell Quansah, Jude Bellingham, Eberechi Eze, Bukayo Saka, Marcus Rashford, Ivan Toney, Ollie Watkins, Noni Madueke, Kobbie Mainoo, Morgan Rogers).

So you do the mathematics. If 1986 equals 2 Black players, and 2026 equals 16 Black players, what will 40 years from today, 2066, look like, all things being equal?

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