FA Apologises

The Football Association has apologised after a DVD celebrating the best post-war England internationals failed to feature any black players.

Thousands of copies of "Pride of the Nation" were included in a welcome pack for the official England fans club.

But the FA withdrew all copies after complaints and will make a new edition including several black players.

"We regret and apologise for any offence that may have been caused," the FA said in an official statement.

"The FA is in the process of producing a new DVD, which will include several outstanding black players, who have, of course, made a huge contribution to the national team and football in this country."

The initial list of players given to the video producers is understood to have included black players but none of them made the final cut as the running time was reduced.

"A letter will also be sent to the Professional Footballers' Association, apologising for any offence caused to any current or former players," added the FA on its website.

England defender Rio Ferdinand admitted he was surprised after hearing about the DVD.

"It's a surprise to me as there would have been several black players on my personal list, such as John Barnes and Ian Wright," the Manchester United player said.

"But players should not be judged on their colour, they should only be judged on their ability."

But Professional Football Association chief executive Gordon Taylor welcomed the FA's actions once the issue had been pointed out.

"I am pleased that the FA has taken the action it has," he said.

"I hope that when the new DVD is produced it will pay a proper tribute to the increasing number of black players who have performed so well for their country."

DVD CHOICE
Included: Bobby Moore, Gary Lineker, Sir Bobby Charlton, Paul Gascoigne, Alan Shearer, Bryan Robson, David Beckham, Terry Butcher, Martin Peters, Chris Waddle, Stuart Pearce, Steven Gerrard

Missed out: Rio Ferdinand, Sol Campbell, Paul Ince, John Barnes, Ashley Cole, Viv Anderson


WTF??????

I'm sorry, but all those included are better than those missed out. It's not racist. What about those white players that will miss out because they "have" to have black players?

Another example of people who want equality being singled out. Colour doesn't enter into it. If people thing that a certain white player is better than a certain black player, then that's fine.

"having" to include black players IS racist against white players.

 

well i'm no football fan, but i'm pretty sure if the top 100 were to judged on goalscorers there'd be black players there-and it suprises me that whoever picked the top 100 didn't pick any black players, as the ones i can think of are and were really popular names- but like i said, i'm no footie fan so i could be talkin *****.

then again, this vid was for the england official fan club and they had enough complaints for it to be an issue- so the england following public obviously thought there should be some of the nations best black players recognised, fair play. post war, the entire roster can't be that big anyway, what 250 men capped over the years at a guess, and no black players in the top 100 of that....... be nice to get the real numbers.

 

It's not a top hundred. There's only about 20.

 

What I don't understand is that the black players are more than happy for this to happen. Not once have they raised the issue, that including black players just because they kicked up a stink could be seen as pandering to their wishes without actually meaning it.

Lets just take a look at the list of black players that they think should be included.

Rio Ferdinand: Drug cheat. Yeah, real role-model.

Sol Campbell: Good player, probably the best on the list, but hardly "best ever" material.

Paul Ince: Only really played for England because he was in the excellent Man Utd side of the mid 90's. Can anyone remember a match where he made the difference?

John Barnes: Probably Englands most inconsistant and frustrating player. Had talent by the bag load, but could never really settle at international level.

Ashley Cole: Eh? He's only been around for a year or two on the international stage, what the hell has he done to deserve "greatest ever" recognition??

Ian Wright: Could never really sustain the quality needed at international level. Had a couple of good games, but if he makes it onto the greatest ever list, then so should players like Alan Smith and Nicky Barmby.

Viv Anderson: Not to familiar with him, as he was before my time but the name doesn't exactly rank up there with Moore, Liniker, Charlton etc.

I realise that this is a touchy subject, but if these are the types of players that are going to be included on the list just because they are black, then I feel sorry for the more deserving players, who were unlucky enough to be born white.

 

it's not down to the players though, they were clearly none the wiser until it was bought to thier attention.

only 20 eh, well **** em. clearly the PC brigade in full force.