DR Clive Chijioke Nwonka is the vibrantly intelligent author behind the recently published book Black Arsenal. Ten years in the making, the beautifully crafted publication is a fascinating read for anyone interested in the links between football, black culture, music and fashion in north London since Brendan Batson’s debut in the 1970s, the Paul Davis era, through to Bukayo Saka’s captaincy of Mikel Arteta’s team today.
I was fortunate enough to attend the launch of the book at the Emirates Stadium, where I spent some time talking to Nwonka and contributors such as Arsenal midfield legend Paul Davis and Femi Koleoso the drummer and bandleader of Mercury Prize winning jazz stars Ezra Collective.
What follows is an abbreviated Q& A with Nwonka (click on the links below to see the full interview) about the creation and contents of Black Arsenal, which he co-edited with Arsenal season ticket holder Matthew Harle, an Islington writer and curator.
Q: Why Black Arsenal? What prompted you to want to write the book, and what are the aims of the book?
CN: “It really began around ten years ago. I was working at the London School of Economics in the Sociology Department, and I was thinking about my own cultural history as a black person of Nigerian descent who grew up in a very black area of northwest London.
“I was a Liverpool fan growing up because of John Barnes, but I realised in the early 90s that a different kind of black masculinity was becoming quite important for people around me, mostly older teenagers and men who I was spending time with at the barber shop, or in the churches or in the playgrounds. They were making associations with Arsenal’s Ian Wright as someone who represented a much more visceral working class identity for them.
“I began exploring what that meant. Little by little, it became clear to me that at least in London, black people, in my opinion, seem to have a connection or affinity to Arsenal that was born through former players such as Wright. At the Notting Hill Carnival every single year, you see Arsenal shirts everywhere. There were other particular experiences where arts and culture and Arsenal meet.
“Initially, I thought it’d make a 200 word piece in the New Statesman or something, but it became bigger and bigger and bigger as I did more research. I did a talk about it at the Barbican in October 2022 with Paul Gilroy, who is has been an Arsenal fan since 1966 as he tells me all the time. The reaction to the talk was amazing as the tickets sold out within 24 hours. I thought I could spend next year or so writing a book myself as an academic in a very dense way, or I could include other people who may have other experiences that I don’t know about as a non-fan who are organic, who can make amazing contributions.”
Q: Among the contributors, who include Ian wright, Ezra Collective and fellow friends of Hayters Clive Palmer, Amy Lawrence, James McNicholas and Tayo Popoola, it seemed Highbury Hero Paul Davis was one of the most important. Can you comment on Paul’s contribution?
CN: “I spent a lot of time with Paul Davis , speaking to him about his experiences of 15 years at the club, coming through the youth academy. He was the only black person there for a period of time. Chris White and Gus Caesar came too. I think Paul has a massive role to play in what we experience now. Without his labour and his efforts being there, you would have no Rocky Rocastle or Kevin Campbell or Mickey Thomas, or even Ian Wright He is someone who glues together all these of periods of time.”
Q: Jurrien Timber and Thomas Partey were watching with interest during the Q&A at your book launch. Was that the night you almost broke Thomas’s hand?
CN: “Definitely now. To clarify what happened, I was at the training ground to interview Reis Nelson, who was a lovely young man, and while waiting for him, I was introduced to Martin Odegaard and William Saliba. Thomas Partey was going through into the canteen so I offered my hand to shake his hand as I had with everyone else. He offered to spud me instead, which I was happy to oblige with. So we go to spud each other. We’re both big guys. I went a bit too firmly, maybe anticipating his firmness as well, which wasn’t forthcoming. He just seemed to hurt his hand a little bit. I thought nothing of it. At home that evening I read he had injured himself, didn’t train and wasn’t flying out for the Champs League game. I thought ‘I’ve injured him. The whole Black Arsenal project is over. I will be allowed anywhere near the ground again. Thankfully, what transpired 24 hours later was that he had some kind of hamstring soft tissue injury. I had genuinely spent a day worrying that I’d broken his hand or something, and that was the reason why he couldn’t train or play. Unfortunately, he was injured for four or five months but it was not down to me.”
