Earlier in June, Monkou was among the guests at an event at Stamford Bridge hosted by Chelsea Roots and Show Racism the Red Card, which celebrated the club’s diverse history and recognised the work still needed to move towards genuine equality. So we thought why not ask our first Dutch player about our latest!

Monkou arrived at Chelsea from Feyenoord late in the 1988/89 season, when foreign players in the English top flight were uncommon.

After making his Blues debut in a 2-1 win over Stoke City in May 1989, the Dutchman became the first black player to be voted Chelsea Player of the Season for his outstanding performances during his first full season in blue.

Monkou would go on to make well over 100 appearances for Chelsea before departing for Southampton in 1992, and continues to represent an important part of our culture and history.

Fast forward 36 years and Chelsea signed another talented Dutch defender in Hato. The 20-year-old has eight caps for the Netherlands to date and is currently in North America representing his country at the World Cup.

In recent years, Hato has developed a reputation as one of Europe’s most talented young defenders and became the youngest player to captain Ajax in a European match in December 2023, when he led the club out before their win over AEK Athens in the Europa League.

‘That says a lot,’ said Monkou when asked about Hato captaining Ajax at such a young age. ‘He’s a classy player and of course, seeing another Dutch central defender being involved with the club is great to see.

‘He is not only a good player, but also a good person and I hope he ends up being here for many years and grows into a leadership role at Chelsea.

‘A football club always needs an identity, you've got to have a certain culture and have youngsters like him that people can identify with, even though he is a player from abroad. Those are the kinds of players who can build the foundation for the next generation of players.’

The Chelsea Roots and Show Racism the Red Card event at Stamford Bridge earlier this month saw Monkou line up on a panel alongside another former Blue Anita Asante, referee Farai Hallam, Premier League Head of Race, Equality and Inclusion Iffy Onoura, and journalist and broadcaster Miriam Walker-Khan.

There was also an exhibition of the first 11 black players to play for Chelsea and the first 11 black players to represent England Women, plus an interactive workshop with 60 local school children, who were given a behind-the-scenes tour of the stadium.

As a former player who has represented both Chelsea and Show Racism the Red Card, Monkou was ideally placed to take part and spoke passionately about his experiences as a player in the late 1980s and 1990s, and what needs to change in the future.

‘I thought the initiative was fantastic,’ he smiled. ‘And as I said in the discussion regarding education, I'm so passionate about being an ambassador for Show Racism the Red Card and seeing my old club engaging in that to make a difference, and to start thinking about the next generation to actually make a change. It's why I was so pleased to participate.’