I’m a huge football fan so was very interested in reading this book from that perspective. What I got was a fascinating, and at times heart breaking, memoir about what it is to be black and british in the UK. There is so much to this book and I would recommend it to everyone, you don’t need to be a sports fan to get something out of this book. The author relates how he felt when certain sporting events happened, and how he came to understand that black athletes were treated differently. He takes the reader from the Brixton riots to Brexit and covers so many things that happened in between. Derek is so open and honest in his writing and really brings it home how things have felt to him. I found this book devastating to read at times but I got so much out of it. I recommend this book to everyone.

I found this a fascinating read although I’m not really a sports fan.
Bardwell is writing about the racism in sport, the identities black sportspeople adopt (Frank Bruno playing along becomes a ‘National treasure’) and how they are treated, the limited choices black people have (ok to be a black footballer but not to be the club manager).
He writes this through the prism of his own life and struggle to weave an identity, and then to negotiate his son’s.
The context - the riots in London in the eighties and more recently, police racism, the Windrush scandal - are all the backdrop.
As a white person it was heartbreaking to read about the stereotyping of young black people through the generations.
Above all I was really swept along by it. Whether or not you’re a big sports fan, Bardwell will capture you and make you face what’s happening in the world today. Recommended.

As someone who does not consider themself to be fan of sport, I wasn't sure what I would think of this book. The answer? I absolutely loved it!

Bardowell expertly explores the way that racism is present in sport taking the reader on a journey from the boxing matches and test cricket of his youth right up to modern day where the Evra / Suarez incident is explored as well as other high profile examples of racism in sport.

Whilst racism in sport is the primary focus of this book, Bardowell does take time to explore racism in Britain beyond sport including 7/7, the riots that followed the murder of Mark Duggan, and Windrush.

Such a good read on so many levels.