In the second part of our exclusive interview with Paul Canoville marking Black History Month the former Chelsea winger, who has a suite at Stamford Bridge named in his honour, discusses his pride at the changes which have taken place since he became the first black player to represent the club at first-team level.
Since that day in April 1982 when Canoville made history by coming off the bench in a 1-0 win at Crystal Palace, but was the victim of racist abuse from a sizeable proportion of those at the game to support Chelsea, he has seen a lot change at the Bridge and in football in general.
In the conclusion of a two-part interview to mark Black History Month, which you can watch in the video below, Canoville reveals how much it means to him that his contribution to the club is still remembered today and his pride at paving the way for the current generation of black Academy graduates at Chelsea.
‘When I came back and saw the likes of Frank Sinclair, Eddie Newton and other black players, and when I first met them I was so nervous to shake their hand and they came to me to say “thank you for making this happen, I know what you went through, if it weren’t for you I probably wouldn’t be here”,’ he says in the interview.
‘It makes me proud to know that I’ve made it easier for them. I did make a difference.’