April 2017

Leon Mann during the Professional Footballers’ Association Awards 2017 at the Grosvenor House Hotel, London (Credit: Barrington Coombs)

I am a lucky man. Not only did I get to interview all the winners at this year’s PFA Awards 2017 – but I also got to interview David Beckham and Kelly Smith, who picked up special awards for their contributions to the game.

The player association have told me the views went into the millions… so I’m delighted with the nights work.

All the interviews were filmed and produced by my production company.

Take a butchers…!

In Jamaica with Germaine and Darren Chin

Last week I found myself feeling numb and winded after the news that GB Olympic silver medalist Germaine Mason and former England defender Ugo Ehiogu had died.

Germaine was a friend. I interviewed him for the BBC in Kingston in 2009 and we instantly hit it off. He took great pride and pleasure in introducing me to the athletics community on the island. Usain Bolt, Shelly-Ann Fraser Pryce, Asafa Powell… they loved him dearly. He was hugely popular both in Jamaica and the UK.

Looking back, it was largely because of him that I was able to establish the contacts that would see me go on to make two successful documentaries for the BBC on Usain. I was a friend of Germaine and, such was the high esteem he was held, this meant I was embraced by the athletes.

We actually rarely discussed athletics outside of our interviews – he was more interested in knowing about the football world. Germaine was a big Arsenal man. But when we last met, he did tip an Antiguan sprinter as the next big star.

Reading the news of his death – caused by a motorbike accident – has still not sunk in. The last status on his WhatsApp reads: Grateful. And I’m grateful my job brought me together with this great guy.

Ugo at the Football Black List 2017 (Photo by Jeff Spicer/Getty Images for Premier League)

On Friday, we lost Ugo. I can’t claim to have been a friend, as our paths didn’t cross much, but on the occasions they did what struck me was his willingness to listen. He didn’t give much away with what he said – instead, what I learned was he let his actions do the talking. Ugo was a top coach and was always there for the community.

I last saw Ugo at the Football Black List celebration in March, where he picked up an award. As a highly respected coach at Tottenham Hotspur, we heralded him as a star manager in the future. Asked what he would be doing in five years his reply was humble: “Doing what I love – coaching and trying to be a better coach”.

His last tweet, sent the day after the event, spoke volumes of the man:

“Gave a homeless girl £10 last night in Dalston. She didn’t ask or beg. Random impulsive act from me. Not gona lie. Felt good. #dosomethingkind”

Ugo and Germaine will be sorely missed – they were humble and kind. Let us learn from them.

The Football Black List celebration, supported by the Premier League, made a big noise last month – while helping unearth a pioneer and celebrate another who had been forgotten. I couldn’t be prouder to be a co-founder alongside the Voice of Sport editor, Rodney Hinds.

What was once ‘just’ a list is now a progressive movement – and the honest truth is this was always part of the vision, but nine years ago it felt like an aspiration that would take decades to achieve. But on the 28th March at Village Underground, London we hit the heights of our initial ambitions.

300 guests, international media coverage, Premier League players in attendance, a high profile celebration of the greatest black footballers in the UK and championing our leaders in roles off the pitch. Wonderful, just wonderful.

LONDON, ENGLAND – MARCH 28: The Football Black List Celebration 2017 at Village Underground on March 28, 2017 in London, England. (Photo by Jeff Spicer/Getty Images for Premier League)

And the journey to delivering this incredible event brought me together with Tony Collins, the very first black manager in British football, who has received very little recognition to date. Now 91, but still bright and sharp, Collins still watches games regularly – but says football these days is no comparison to when he was playing and in the dug out managing. Disagree? Well, Collins knows his stuff and can back his chat – taking 4th Division Rochdale to a League Cup Final in 1962.

Yes, that’s right – he took a 4th Division side to a League Cup Final, but sadly never got another managerial role despite numerous applications. Collins insists it was nothing to do with his colour – but has no explanation for the lack of opportunities.

Handing Collins the Keith Alexander award, for his outstanding contribution to the game, I found myself welling up. What an honour it was to help recognise him.

The Football Black List celebration can also take some credit for helping unearth the first black female footballer in Britain – as the Guardian’s Anna Kessel discovered a lady called Emma Clarke. She was a black woman playing games in the 1890’s. Carrie Boustead was thought to be the first before Kessel’s article revealed this was a case of mistaken identity by Stuart Gibbs, an artist with a strong interest in the history of women’s football.

So much was achieved by the event and initiative. The ambition from here must be to grow the Football Black List further. Who knows what, or who else, we may find.