Published 22 June 2023 3 min read
England
What Jamaica means to me: Viv Anderson and Hope Powell
England's first Black national team manager and our first senior Black international look back at their roots, as we celebrate Windrush 75
WINDRUSH 75: A LASTING LEGACY
Now in its seventh decade of independence, some of the pioneering footballers straddling the Atlantic Ocean divide have spoken about their relationships with Jamaica that have helped shape them.
For former England and Manchester United defender Viv Anderson, Jamaica has remained a mythical distant other world having only visited once when he was 13.
That didn't stop his mother beguiling him with stories of her homeland and imprinting a lifestyle based around enjoying the freedom to roam the streets and parks of Clifton in Nottingham where he grew up.
"It sounded like an idyllic life they were brought up in," he said.
"My parents were born in the countryside. So they'd walk five miles to different places and think nothing of it, and they instilled that in us.
"It was always about playing sports and enjoying ourselves. I don't think we had a television especially early on, and the radio not that much.
"We were always out in the fresh air, either playing sports or doing things with your nieces and nephews."
For former England and Manchester United defender Viv Anderson, Jamaica has remained a mythical distant other world having only visited once when he was 13.
That didn't stop his mother beguiling him with stories of her homeland and imprinting a lifestyle based around enjoying the freedom to roam the streets and parks of Clifton in Nottingham where he grew up.
"It sounded like an idyllic life they were brought up in," he said.
"My parents were born in the countryside. So they'd walk five miles to different places and think nothing of it, and they instilled that in us.
"It was always about playing sports and enjoying ourselves. I don't think we had a television especially early on, and the radio not that much.
"We were always out in the fresh air, either playing sports or doing things with your nieces and nephews."
The ultimate distinction arrived in November 1978 when Anderson made his international debut against Czechoslovakia, beating future roommate Laurie Cunningham to become England's first Black player.
"When I made my debut, I was very honoured and very proud to be British," he added.
"It was a great feeling coming out of the tunnel. The walk and crescendo as I emerged will live with me until I die."
For others, like former England manager Hope Powell, growing up in London with a Jamaican mother threatened to thwart her footballing ambitions.
Powell explained: "In the West Indian culture, girl children are treated differently to boy children. I guess for her, it wasn't the norm.
"She always said to me: 'In Jamaica, the girls weren't allowed to swim.'
"When I wasn't supposed to go training, I went anyway, I absolutely got in trouble, but I continued to do it.
"Maybe I just wore her down. She saw my enjoyment, my love of it and it kept me out of trouble.
"She still comes and supports me as a coach, like she supported me as a player. She's my number one fan."
"When I made my debut, I was very honoured and very proud to be British," he added.
"It was a great feeling coming out of the tunnel. The walk and crescendo as I emerged will live with me until I die."
For others, like former England manager Hope Powell, growing up in London with a Jamaican mother threatened to thwart her footballing ambitions.
Powell explained: "In the West Indian culture, girl children are treated differently to boy children. I guess for her, it wasn't the norm.
"She always said to me: 'In Jamaica, the girls weren't allowed to swim.'
"When I wasn't supposed to go training, I went anyway, I absolutely got in trouble, but I continued to do it.
"Maybe I just wore her down. She saw my enjoyment, my love of it and it kept me out of trouble.
"She still comes and supports me as a coach, like she supported me as a player. She's my number one fan."
Powell, who made her England debut at just 16 and reached the final of the inaugural Women's EUROs in 1984, relishes the chance to visit her mother's birthplace as often as she can.
"It's great, the freedom of it and my mother's very much into the food, the mangoes that we can just pick off the trees, seeing the family," she added.,
"Her memories come back and you get the stories, the good times, the bad times, but she loves it.
"It's lovely for her to do that and for me to see how that makes her feel which is just pure joy.
"I have Jamaican heritage and roots I'm very, very proud of. I recognise I was born in England, but my heritage is 100 per cent from the Caribbean and I'm really, really proud of that."
"It's great, the freedom of it and my mother's very much into the food, the mangoes that we can just pick off the trees, seeing the family," she added.,
"Her memories come back and you get the stories, the good times, the bad times, but she loves it.
"It's lovely for her to do that and for me to see how that makes her feel which is just pure joy.
"I have Jamaican heritage and roots I'm very, very proud of. I recognise I was born in England, but my heritage is 100 per cent from the Caribbean and I'm really, really proud of that."