MANCHESTER, England (AP) — Ricky Hill packed his bags and prepared to uproot his life again. Next stop: Chicago. The former England international soccer player is accustomed to making sacrifices and traveling far to build his coaching career, an effort he says has been stymied because he is Black.
“It is something that I hate to do because home is where the heart is,” Hill said of leaving behind his wife of 38 years and his 99-year-old mother to chase a rare management opportunity.
Racism has long permeated the world’s most popular sport, with players subjected to racist chants and taunts online. While soccer governing bodies such as FIFA and UEFA have taken steps to combat the abuse of players, the lack of diversity in the upper ranks at major clubs remains an unsolved problem.
“It’s two fights for equality,” Hill told The Associated Press.
Hill — who as a teenager in the 1970s was among the first generation of Black players in England — says he routinely faced racist abuse from fans when he played for Luton Town.
“You would hear songs about you, see people spitting, that kind of vitriolic behavior.”
That racism, he says, has continued to hold him back in the pursuit of his top-flight coaching dream.
“The difficulty we’ve had as racially diverse individuals and Black individuals, specifically, is there is no way of showing your worth as a coach or manager without actually having the opportunity to do so,” he said.
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