West Ham United’s Academy has held a number of activations and events to celebrate and showcase Black History Month.
Across their sites at Rush Green and Chadwell Heath, young Hammers have been celebrating the diversity of the Academy of Football as well as engaging in a variety of events and talks throughout October.
The events follow the Club's recent award of Advanced level of the Premier League Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Standard (PLEDIS).
My Shirt My History
For ‘My Shirt My History’, players from Under 9s to Under 16s were invited to celebrate their heritage and history by wearing a shirt of their families’ backgrounds.
Those young Hammers without a direct link to Black History representation were invited to research a country of their choice and wear their representative shirts for training on the evenings of 12 and 13 October.
The event was designed to create a montage of colours and a visual representation of the diversity in the Academy community and to celebrate and spark conversation between players, parents, guardians and coaches.
Academy Player Care Officer Evan Hall said: “My Shirt My History has been an excellent and visual way to allow our schoolboy players to represent their family history and heritage, and the boys were proud to speak up in front of their peers about what the country and their shirts mean to them.
“We have had shirts representing Ghana, Nigeria, Jamaica, Gambia, Dominican Republic, Trinidad & Tobago, South Africa, Ivory Coast and Barbados to name a few of the countries.
“The event celebrated Black History Month and the diversity in the Academy. It also supplemented the other work we do around equality, diversity and inclusion, working with providers in our 360Hammers life skills programme, such as Kick it Out and Stonewall with our schoolboy age groups.”
Jack Leslie talk at Chadwell Heath
Matt Tiller, the author of Jack Leslie's biography, gave a presentation to the Academy on the life of the pioneering striker as part of the Club’s work around Black History Month.
Born in Canning Town in 1901, Leslie was an outstanding forward. He was the first Black player to be selected by England in 1925, but he was later dropped when selectors learnt the colour of his skin.
A legendary player at Plymouth Argyle, Leslie returned to east London later in life and was appointed as a kit manager by manager Ron Greenwood.
Post-retirement, Leslie worked at West Ham in the 1960s and 70s and the book, 'The Lion Who Never Roared', features a chapter on his time at the Club, detailing his positive experiences spending time with the likes of Bobby Moore, Geoff Hurst, Trevor Brooking and Clyde Best.
Last season, Leslie was inducted into the National Football Hall of Fame at London Stadium, while the Club also provided funding for the Jack Leslie Statue that was unveiled at Plymouth Argyle's Home Park last year.
Tiller said: “It’s great talking to young players, who are on the same journey as Jack Leslie but almost a century later.
“And while things have changed for the better, these players are going through the same journey and dealing with the same challenges. I think it is important to reflect on some of the difficulties Jack faced because some of those issues have not gone away.
“I think young people are blown away by Jack’s story because it is so distant in time from them – but if we think about the treatment of black players just a few decades ago, I think it is important to know what happened and it is important to talk about here and in schools and Academies across the country.
“Because a lot of these stories have been forgotten about or not told until now, it is important to celebrate these achievements and recognise the struggle that people such as Jack Leslie had. It was an honour to share this story with such a great group of lads.”
U18s midfielder Tyron Akpata, who attended the talk, added: “It’s my first time hearing the story and it was very insightful, especially as a Black player myself.
“There are many stories that we can learn about that make us feel grateful for the opportunities we have now and think about how it was different for people in the past such as Jack… and how things have changed and how there is still room for improvement.
“We need to make sure these stories get out and help educate other people. The more we can educate other people, the less stuff like that will happen and the more people will be treated fairly in the future.”
U12s attend Tilbury Docks to celebrate Windrush anniversary
West Ham United U12s visited the Tilbury Docks to learn about and celebrate the Windrush generation on the 75th anniversary year as well as the incredible story of Walter Tull.
The U12s were given a tour of the site and produced pieces of creative writing around the story of Tull, who was an English professional footballer and British Army Officer of Afro-Caribbean descent.
They also attended the site where HMT Empire Windrush docked in 1948 carrying passengers from the Caribbean to the UK.
Over 75 years later, the ship, the dock, and its passengers are now seen as a symbol of the start of the Windrush Generation, which saw many people migrate from the Caribbean to Britain after World War II.
As part of the visit, the young Hammers also attended a Creative Writing Workshop led by Vickie Donoghue.
The trip was organised as part of Black History Month and the U12s' wider education work, which aims to secure qualification for the prestigious Premier League U12 Truce Tournament in Ypres, Belgium.
