Calum Jacobs of CARICOM has written a new book called ‘A New Formation’, chronicling the influences of Black footballers on the sport. But rather than focus solely on decades of racism, the book will explore the nuanced work that Black athletes have done to make football what it is today:
A New Formation is not a book about football and racism. Jacobs and his co-contributors – including authors Musa Okwonga and Aniefiok Ekpoudom and sports broadcaster Jeanette Kwakye MBE – eschew the standard frameworks of trauma and oppression that are foisted upon Black narratives and seek to move beyond discussions of diversity, identity and representation. Featuring interviews with legendary players such as Ian Wright, Anita Asante and Andy Cole, they draw upon broader social and cultural history to examine Black footballers in contexts larger than themselves. By engaging with these subtler connections between football and Black cultural expression, A New Formation reveals the vibrancy and nuance of contemporary Black life in Britain.