Celebrating British Players’ African Roots

A celebration of British players with African roots

African communities in the UK love their football and have made a big contribution to the game over the years. So I came up with a tribute that unearthed a few surprises.

AFRI-BRIT is a simple concept. Essentially, it is a team of current British players with African roots. Researching and picking my squad was a lot of fun and I hope it will open up debates and lead to some reflection.

Allegiances to one nationality can be ferocious at times, and as a result it can be difficult for players to celebrate a more complex identity. But in a truly multicultural society that strikes me as totally unreasonable. For example, could an England player be seen wearing a Ghana shirt to cheer on his mother’s country? I say – why not. So I decided to put AFRI-BRIT out there.

First off – what an incredible team. Even if my formation leaves the defence a little exposed (*cough!), I don’t think I would have any trouble filling a Premier League ground to watch these ballers do their thing. This is testament to the growing numbers of players from African communities coming through in the UK.

I have to confess that I was a little worried about finding a keeper, but a tweet asking for help was met within seconds by the great folk at Africa Football Shop. Wolves’ Carl Ikeme – who has Nigerian roots – soon took the number 1 jersey. A fellow tweeter even delivered a sub keeper in Rochdale youngster, Jonathan Diba Masunga.

The midfield and front line offered up an embarrassment of riches. Welbeck, Berahino, Agbonlahor, Cole, Anichebe, Aluko, Bolasie, Zaha, Ibe… I could go on.

Where I did get creative was in the centre of midfield. I had been told that England’s Ross Barkley has Nigerian roots – so for me, he had to go in. What I unexpectedly stumbled upon was Leon Osman’s eligibility. According to the internet – his grandfather is Somali. And having grown up playing with many, many hugely talented Somali players, in North London, I know those guys can play!!

But the thing is, I know that I will have missed a few gems – such is the vast array of talent coming through. African communities in the UK are making huge contributions to our society. We rarely acknowledge this – let alone celebrate it. Football presents the perfect opportunity to right that wrong.