Howard Gayle (1977 )

I’d always wondered why players from inner city areas like Toxteth weren’t being given the chance or making the grade, even before I played with Liverpool. People from our area were looked upon as troublesome. The clubs said at the time that they hadn’t spotted any talent. I was fortunate that I was playing for a Sunday league team and the manager Eric Dunlop knew a scout at Liverpool and he pestered and pestered him and eventually I got asked for a trial. They must have known I was black because he was known for multi-racial teams. I thought I had broken the mould but I was forever shouting about it because there were better players than me around who didn’t get the opportunity. There’d only been one black player at Everton, Cliff Marshall, and it was widely publicised about the racial abuse he was receiving, so maybe young black players didn’t relish the thought of going into the clubs.