Black Arsenal

By: Clive Chijioke Nwonka - editor, Matthew Harle - editor

Narrated by: Bayo Gbadamosi, Genesis Lynea

Arsenal is special. Its multicultural fandom reflects a changing city and a unique relationship with Black British popular culture. Thanks to its decades of fielding iconic Black players on the pitch and the storied and diverse histories of its terraces, Arsenal has emerged as a powerful symbol of what an organic and convivial multiculture can be.

From the earliest hints in the late 1960s that something remarkable was happening, up to Arsenal's ascendence as a global organisation, Black Arsenal is the first dedicated exploration of the club's relationship to contemporary Black identity and culture. It sees the club's affinity with Black identity transcend football and spread across cultures: in the media, music, fashion, politics and everyday social experiences. Explored through a combination of stunning photography and rare archival images, Black Arsenal examines how a new Black iconography emerged at Arsenal at key moments in British history that became crucial to the creation of new forms of Black identification.

With contributions including former legends Ian Wright and Paul Davis, critical appraisals from Paul Gilroy, Gail Lewis and Clive Chijioke Nwonka, and personal responses from Clive Palmer, Ezra Collective, Amy Lawrence and others, Black Arsenal encounter the moments, stories and experiences of how Arsenal became an important and underexamined feature of modern Black British culture and identity.©2024 Clive Nwonka and Matthew Harle

Critic reviews

A handsome coffee-table book, containing many enjoyable photos and contributions by figures from [Ian] Wright to Amy Lawrence . . . [it] also works effectively as engaging social history (Tomiwa Owolade)

You wonder why no one thought of publishing this book before. There are thoughtful contributions to the text featuring everyone from Ian Wright, to Jay Z, Alex Scott and Spike Lee . . . this is a very special book (Alex Peake-Tomkinson)

Examines how the club has become an authentic expression of integrated Black British culture . . . [a] beautifully illustrated book (Tim Adams)

Although generations of players actively pushed back against old stereotypes and racist narratives, Dr Nwonka believes a sense of respect and appreciation is "long overdue"