Taking place in October, the annual celebration is an opportunity to acknowledge the achievements of the Black community and this year, City’s youngsters have been learning about the contribution Black players have made to the Club’s history.
A host of Black footballers have represented the men’s first team since 1965, when Stan Horne became City’s first Black player.
Legendary figures such as Alex Williams MBE, Shaun Goater and Vincent Kompany, as well as present days stars like Raheem Sterling and Fernandinho are just some of the men to follow in Horne’s footsteps, enjoying some iconic moments in the sky-blue shirt.
Their achievements and those of many other players, have been covered in the Academy’s education project, which has required boys from our under-14 and under-15 teams to research the history of Black players the Club.
The youngsters have used their findings to create player information cards which feature the facts and figures behind these players careers and moving forward they will be used as part of a game to educate other age groups within the Academy.
The project has been supported by St Bede’s College – the Academy’s education partner who count the likes of Tosin Adarabioyo and Lukas Nmecha amongst their alumni – and several participants have become project ambassadors in order to educate other pupils within the school on the Black players to have represented City.
One such player, Alex Williams, visited St Bede’s during Black History Month, to share his experiences of racism in football and the Academy’s intention is for the project to run beyond this month and form part of young players’ programme of learning.
“Equality and Diversity is an important part of the education our Academy players receive here at Manchester City,” said Academy Director, Jason Wilcox.
“We have a rich history of Black footballers and we are proud of that and the contribution they have made to the Club.
“It is important that we celebrate Black History Month and this project has allowed us to do so in a way which also educates our young players on those who have gone before them.”
