Black Arsenal

by Clive Chijioke Nwonka, Matthew Harle

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 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.

Genres: Nonfiction

320 pages, Hardcover

Published March 4, 2025

Reviews

[Tom · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent. A love letter (or a collection of love letters) not just to Black Arsenal, but to Black football and Black London. Great to hear from such a wide range of voices. Recommended for any lapsed football fans, regardless of allegiance (except for perhaps Spurs fans). It’s enough to restore your faith in the game. Almost.

[Lewis Fisher · Rating 5 out of 5]

My word, I genuinely cannot remember the last time a book gave me chills - and this gave it to me multiple times. It is simply a fantastic book. The stories and essays contained within are incomparable, and demonstrate just how we are as a club, how far we've come, and how far we've still to go.

There's part of me that doesn't want to talk about so much of what's within, because it is such a personal book. As someone who's father is Anglo-Burmese, and faced racial discrimination when he moved to Australia (whereas as I am white passing thanks to a ginger mother), obviously there's that level of connection with BAME and Arsenal. There's the fact that Arsenal is all I've ever known, and that I wear 14 for my sunday league team for Theo Walcott. I'm too young to notice Black and other BAME players begin to be integrated within the team, it was just a mainstay of Arsenal sides that there was players of all different ethnicities and backgrounds. The Arsenal, the only club known for having that participle beforehand, is so much more than a football club, and has represented so much to so many people. Please go out and read this book. Make The Arsenal for everyone. Call out your mates for not making the club, or any club, or anything else, not inclusive for all. Remember who you are, what you are, and who you represent - from fan to player.

[Jaz Boon · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love The Arsenal and I love this work about Black Arsenal. What a beautiful compilation of pictures and stories and cultural moments. My connection to the club was via Thierry Henry and what has always been a “progressive” sentiment throughout. Here, Nwonka and Harle dive deep into the multi-ethnic community that surrounds the clubs physical location and how the club itself has moved toward and reflects its communities. A delightful read for any Arsenal supporter.

[Stuart N · Rating 4 out of 5]

I much preferred the anecdotal stuff to the academic work, but it’s a really inspiring read that only makes me prouder to support the Arsenal. Particularly pleased with the wealth of writing and reporting about the Women’s team in here.