BT Sport announces documentary about ‘Football’s Windrush Story’ presented by Benjamin Zephaniah

Poet and writer Benjamin Zephaniah is set to present the documentary by BT Sport. Picture: Mike Marsland/WireImage.

AS THE country marks Windrush Day, BT Sport Film have announced a special programme commemorating the day.

‘Standing Firm: Football’s Windrush Story’ is a new documentary from its award-winning BT Sport Films series.

The film, featuring interviews with the likes of Tyrone Mings, Rio and Anton Ferdinand, Andy Cole, David Lammy, Hope Powell and Nikita Parris, will celebrate the legacy of the Windrush generation and examine the impact they, their descendants and continued Caribbean migration to the UK, had on English football and the national team.

Premiering in the Autumn on BT Sport, BAFTA award-winning presenter and writer Benjamin Zephaniah will delve into the history of West Indian communities in the UK, celebrate the pioneers who paved the way for black footballers in this country and examine the role current players are taking in the continued fight against racism in football and wider society.

The current England team reflects just how deep rooted the Caribbean influence on the game has become, with the Euro 2020 England squad containing an impressive number of players of Caribbean heritage including Sancho, Rashford and Sterling as well as Mings, Kyle Walker and Kalvin Phillips.

Benjamin explores the roles of Luther Blissett, Cyrille Regis, Clyde Best, Brendon Batson, Laurie Cunningham and Viv Anderson and their impact. He also explores the growing impact Caribbean heritage had on modern English football and the national side in the 1990s with ever increasing numbers of professional players with family ties to the West Indies, including Ian Wright, Les Ferdinand and Paul Ince who, in 1993, became the first black player to captain England.

Speaking on the documentaries release, Benjamin said: “Quite a lot is known about how the Windrush generation changed the NHS, the rail and bus service, and even music in our country, but very little is said about football.

“So, in this film I went out and talked to descendants of Windrush pioneers about their family’s journeys, how football has changed over the years, and their place in the game today. 

“We have come a long way, and there are many rivers to cross, but I was pleasantly surprised, and inspired, by what I found. This is the film I’ve been wanting to make for a long time. This is about the game I love. This is personal.”

MP David Lammy also praised the impact the film would have, he commented: “Football means so much to the Windrush generation and their descendants in this country.

“There was an assumption that black guys couldn’t really play football but players like Viv Anderson, Laurie Cunningham and Garth Crooks really broke through and improved the game.

“They put football into our DNA and it has continued generation after generation. I look at my own children and the way they’re lifted up by the modern day players. It’s a fantastic legacy.”

To mark the film’s release, BT Sport today has released a poem by Benjamin, written especially for the film which is available to listen to YouTube.

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1 Comment

  1. | Chaka Artwell

    Her Majesty’s Conservative Government; Her Majesty’s “loyal” opposition Labour Party, and the public and corporate institution’s public three-year persecution and then illegal exiling of Caribbean-heritage men and women of senior years in 2018, reveals the total contempt the establishment has against African-skinned Subjects of Her Majesty.
    Having high profile people such as Mr Tyrone Mings, Mr Rio and Anton Ferdinand, Mr Andy Cole, Mr David Lammy, Hope Powell, Nikita Parris, and award-winning presenter and writer Mr Benjamin Zephaniah presenting this BT Sport Film celebrating this “Windrush Standing Firm: Football’s Windrush Story” is a complete outrage against the intelligence of Caribbean-heritage subjects.
    The majority of the Caribbean people who were illegally exiled have still not been compensated.
    Moreover, high profile Labour MP, Mr David Lammy was in the Labour Party when Labour ordered the 2010 destruction of the Landing Cards that would have proved the legality of the Caribbean-heritage Subjects to England; when Labour unjustly introduced Visa requirements on 2001 on Caribbean families weakening Caribbean families in the process. Mr Lammy offered precious little resistance to these discriminatory Labour policies.
    How Mr Lammy can now pretend to be outraged at the 2018 illegal exiling of Caribbean-heritage Subjects when his Labour Party provided the foundation for the exiling is outrageous and needs to be challenged.
    In the years before being illegally exiled in 2018, the Caribbean-heritage people had their Bank Account frozen; their employment suspended, their Welfare Benefit and their NHS Treatment stopped, and then they were exiled to the Caribbean without any financial means or support. Some have died without receiving justice or compensation.

    Reply

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