June 9 – Captain Guv’nor | On This Football Day

June 9 – Captain Guv’nor

WITH it’s origins in the white working-class, football has had to deal with the thorny issue of racism right from the start. It took until 1978 for a black player to represent the English national team when Viv Anderson made his debut, and today in 1993 another barrier was broken down as Paul Ince became the first black player to captain the Three Lions.

The match in question was a US Cup game played at Foxboro Stadium in Massachusetts against the USA who were ramping up preparations for the 1994 World Cup. With David Platt and Tony Adams missing, Ince was handed the armband, but he was unable to prevent a 2-0 loss, with goals from Tom Dooley and Spin Doctors lead singer clone Alexi Lalas.

The Guv’nor had made his mark on the fledgling Premier League since he had left West Ham for Manchester United in 1989. Fitting into the United midfield with Bryan Robson he became a staple of Ferguson’s first title winning Old Trafford side in the 1992/93 season.

Despite Ince’s domestic form and his pioneering role with the captain’s armband, England manager Graham Taylor wasn’t convinced enough to keep him in the team, as Ince was dropped for two vital World Cup qualifiers as England failed to make it to USA ’94.

After spells at Internazionale, Liverpool, Middlesbrough and Wolves, Ince eventually hung-up his boots in 2006 and turned his attention to management. The days of black English players being booed on the pitch has long gone, but a quick look around the dugouts tells you where one of the biggest problems of the modern game lies.

Last season there were only two black managers across the Football League, Ince at MK Dons and Macclesfield Town’s Keith Alexander. Ince has made an impressive start to his managerial career, starting off with saving Macclesfield Town from near-certain relegation in the 2006/07 season before taking MK Dons to a league and FA Trophy double this year.

As he did on the pitch, Ince is proving to be an inspiration. The issue of black coaches in the English game is something that the FA is keen to tackle, with calls for the encouragement of positive discrimination, following it’s successful introduction in the National Football League in the USA, as they hope to see more young black coaches given an opportunity to prove themselves in a game dominated by white ex-pros.

Whatever happens in the future, we’re sure that we’ll be seeing more of Incey in the dugout. First black England manager anyone? See one of his finest moments on the pitch below and join us tomorrow for the story of football’s second most famous dog. And we don’t mean Soccer Dog 2.