Football needs racism action plan, says ex-England striker Emile Heskey
By Sports Producer Dan Salisbury-Jones
Former England striker Emile Heskey says it’s time for a racism action plan as he reveals that even today people cross the street to avoid him.
Despite being one of the country’s best known football stars he says some are scared to be around him because of their perception of black people.
The former Liverpool and Leicester City forward told ITV News: “I still get people crossing the road when I’m walking towards them and I class that as them not feeling too comfortable with me.
"I don’t feel comfortable with certain people because they feel uncomfortable with me. And you can feel it, it’s a feeling that you know. You might not be able to see it but I feel it. All I want people to feel is comfortable with me.”
Among the myriad of issues brought into sharp focus by the most recent Black Lives Matters protests is the lack of representation in senior roles in industries such as football.
As a young footballer Heskey looked up to John Barnes, Cyrille Regis and Ian Wright but once he stopped playing he says there was a lack of black people in roles he wanted.
“Where do you see people in the next step? Where do you see them within management? Where do you see them within the boardroom? Where do you see them in executives? Where do you see them in any role at the club?
"You’ll be hard pushed to see any black people in any other role in football apart from being an actual player and probably fitness coach. You might see a few coaches here and there but apart from that nowhere else.
“We need an action plan, we keep talking and we’ll keep talking and nothing will happen. We need an action plan, we need to sit down with people, they need to understand what is happening. We put these BAME diversity groups together and are we getting any further forward? No not really. Are they working? No, they’re not working.
“The change will come at some stage, for us black players we just want to have the opportunity to even get an interview, we just want that next step for us.”
Heskey enjoyed some success coaching at Bolton but was left in limbo when they faced financial meltdown. Opportunities were rare after that and he hopes to now take matters into his own hands by aspiring to join a boardroom.
“It’s more to do with 'why can’t I aim high?' I would love to be able to affect the club a little bit more. Be part of hiring and making decisions.
“I’ve got to make that first step and keep moving. I was given the opportunity before lockdown with helping Leicester City but hopefully I can revisit that when we have the opportunity to go back to a little bit of normality.”
There was some good news during lockdown for him though as his book ‘Even Heskey Scored’ was shortlisted for Autobiography of the Year.
In it he reflects on his long playing career which he believes was respected more by his peers than fans: “I think with players, coaches, yes 100 percent. With others? Probably not as much as the playing side of it but again you can’t please everyone and I’d rather be respected within the people that are with me and around me than anyone else. You don’t play from 17-38 being bad player and not being respected.”