Some of the Nottingham’s leading Black footballers have teamed up with the police to help crackdown on racism and celebrate Black culture.
Morgan Gibbs-White, Anthony Elanga, Andrew Omobamidele and Naomi Bedeau have all shared personal stories with Nottinghamshire Police as part of the campaign.
The Nottingham Forest stars revealed times they had suffered abuse and how they had overcome that, as well as who their role models were growing up and how it felt to inspire others.
Speaking to the force as part of Black History Month, which runs throughout October, each of the players told a different tale about what had driven them on to be where they are today. Their stories will be shared throughout the month.
Midfielder Gibbs-White first experienced racial abuse on the pitch when he was still at school – with more incidents following in the years to come – and gave an insight into how it felt to be targeted in this way.
“They almost make you feel different to other people, just because of the colour of your skin, which is obviously wrong in so many ways because everyone is human and everyone’s blood is red,” he said.
“I just believe that you have to think of it as you’re unique and you have to, in some way, represent the culture in a positive way by not reacting in the moment.
“When I first received racial abuse, I was quite immature and didn’t know how to handle it, but as I’ve got older and spoken to more people, that’s helped me massively on how to deal with things in the right way and get support.
“I know when it happens it’s hard to control your anger, but at the end of the day, they’re the ones sat behind a computer screen, and you’re doing something with your life, which I think is a good way to look at it.”
Swedish international Anthony Elanga has also had to overcome challenges in his life and issued a direct message to anyone thinking of subjecting someone else to any form of hate speech, including racism.
He said: “What I would say is, would you want to be on the other end of that? I don’t think so, so why do it to another person?
“Just treat people the way you want to be treated because, at the end of the day, what goes around comes around.
“It’s important that community groups, like football clubs and the police, work together to tackle subjects like this, because we should never let racism win.
“To any young person from the Black community in Nottingham, I’d say be proud of who you are, as you’re here for a reason and have got a mission in this world.
“Don’t let anyone try and talk you down – it doesn’t matter what colour skin you have, it’s important to stay true to yourself.”
Some of the questions posed to the players came from the Hyson Green base of the Nottinghamshire Police Cadets – a uniformed volunteer group made up of young people from the local community.
Among those to ask a question – which was filmed and shown to the players at the Forest training ground – was 13-year-old Alisha, who asked Nottingham Forest Women’s Naomi Bedeau how it felt to inspire young girls in the community.
“It’s everything, inspiring the next generation, for me, as I was never a young girl that went to football games and thought I could be a professional footballer, whereas now it’s something that is attainable,” said Bedeau.
“Having these role models is very important, so that they can see it and believe they can do it.”
Gibbs-White named former England forward Cyrille Regis as his mentor following a question by 15-year-old Liam, before illustrating how important it was to him to inspire others.
Speaking of his own call up to the national team last month, he said: “It’s incredible to be able to follow in the footsteps of big names like Cyrille Regis and Viv Anderson.
“I just hope the work can continue and we can keep getting young Black players into the England team and hopefully it progresses.
“You just have to be the best possible version of yourself, day in and day out and try and be a role model and a leader for kids growing up.”
Elanga added: “Growing up – as a person foremost before I was a footballer – my mum always told me to be a good person before being a good footballer.
“If I can make a difference to a young kid growing up to make them a better person for actually becoming something they want to become in life, for me that’s important and I’m really proud to be able to do that.”
Defender Andrew Omobamidele was asked by Oli, 12, how he dealt with being a footballer and the threat of having trolls send him abuse online.
He said: “I don’t personally look too much into it, but when you see it targeted at you, it is difficult to ignore, but I think it comes back to having that inner confidence and support system.
“The only thing I care about is my manager and my teammates’ opinions, my family members, my mum, but other than that, if it’s not affecting my career in any way, I try my best to pay no mind to it.”
Speaking ahead of the start of Black History Month, which began today (1 October), Elanga also provided some insight into what the month means to him and his family.
He said: “It means a lot to me. With my parents being from Cameroon, they didn’t have it easy coming to Europe.
“Obviously, we know that historically, in Africa, it’s not been easy for a lot of my ancestors and family there, so I want to give back to my people there as well.
“It’s important to have people from different cultures, because it adds something different to the group and helps with everything in general on a day-to-day basis.
“I’m really happy that we take Black History Month so seriously. We have a lot of diversity in our team and a lot of Black players in the Premier League, so it’s really important to me to be able to celebrate this month.”
Chief Superintendent Sukesh Verma, Nottinghamshire Police’s Head of Local Policing, said: “Black History Month is really important, especially when you consider the diversity and makeup of our county and many of the cultural challenges we are seeking to support and readdress after many years of damage.
“It provides us all with an opportunity to celebrate and acknowledge the immense contribution Black people have made and continue to make, while understanding the impact of Black heritage and culture.
“Not only that though but it also allows us to reflect on the different lived experiences – both positive and negative – of the diverse communities that we serve.
“People from all walks of life have personal stories to tell, so we’re extremely grateful to the Nottingham Forest players who chose to share theirs with us as part of this campaign.
“It doesn’t matter whether you are a professional footballer, police officer, student, or any other profession for that matter, the impact of racism both personally and professionally is tough to talk about because of how damaging it is.
“We were really proud as a force to embrace the national Police Race Action Plan, which sets to improve policing for Black communities by building trust and confidence, and this applies internally as well as externally.
“It’s really invaluable to see leading community organisations, like Nottinghamshire Police and Forest, work together to start these types of tough and emotive conversations and hopefully drive forward positive societal change.”
