Black British Christians: How faith and football mix for Premier League elite
This article is part of The Athletic’s series celebrating UK Black History Month.
For Arsenal’s Eddie Nketiah, Sundays were so busy when he was growing up that his race to be ready for football matches sometimes involved an impromptu change of clothes.
With both church services and his youth games non-negotiable, he would have to compromise on his manager’s requirements for meeting times — and often the changing rooms too.
“As a kid… phwoar! We had to go! It was a rule: you had to attend church. And I love church, so I wasn’t complaining,” Nketiah tells The Athletic.
Nketiah has been a practising Christian since his youth (Julian Finney/Getty Images)
“I remember I had one season of Sunday league (With Hillyfielders in south-east London) and I’d go to church at 10:30, finish at 11:30-11:45 and the kick-off would be at 12:15. I’d come in my little shirt and trousers and change on the touchline! The manager would be so angry but I’d do it every week, even when he would tell me, ‘Please, we’ve got a big game’.
“After a while, he just accepted it and still played me. It just shows how important it is to the family and, as you get higher within a club, the commitments mean you can’t attend as much. But my family still try to go every week when they’re not watching one of my games.”
Nketiah is not the only high-profile black British Premier League player who would have childhood memories such as this. Many of his club and country team-mates are visible in their displays of faith on social media.
Bukayo Saka has donned the “GodsChild” hashtag on his social channels for years. Crystal Palace’s Eberechi Eze made his most obvious display of faith with a cross gesture after scoring against Leeds United on Easter weekend last season, and he refers to his faith on socials regularly. Marcus Rashford and Raheem Sterling do not post in a similar light as frequently, but both have spoken about the value of their faith.
Back to back, what an honour 🏆 Thank you to everybody who voted me England’s Men’s Player of the year I’m very grateful 🙏🏿 #GodsChild pic.twitter.com/kGRkQ5gPJj
— Bukayo Saka (@BukayoSaka87) September 6, 2023
Christianity is far from the sole religion practised by black Premier League players, but it is particularly visible among those who have grown up in England. That is despite a general decrease in those practising across the country.
In 2021, according to the Office for National Statistics, less than half the population (46.2 per cent, or 27.5million people) described themselves as Christian that year — the first time that had happened in a census of England and Wales. It represented a 13.1 per cent decrease from the 59.3 per cent (33.3million) who described themselves as Christian in 2011. The void in 2021 was mostly filled by those who selected “No religion“, which had a 12 per cent increase in that census.
However, in 2017, the London School of Economics found that there was a 44 per cent increase in Black Majority Church congregations in Greater London between 2005 and 2012. These were mostly Pentecostal congregations, which are dotted across many corners of London. So an apparent rise in visible black British Christians in the Premier League, stemming from that period, does not come as a total surprise.
“Reiss (Nelson) and B (Saka) have been around Arsenal, and Joe (Willock) is a big one as well,” Nketiah adds.
“With Eze, any time we’re at England together, we have an extra bond because we have that connection in terms of having a similar story (being released by top academy clubs). We keep having that faith and encouraging one another when we’re down to keep our faith up.”
24 & blessed 🖤🙏🏽 pic.twitter.com/K2NlO9VCPr
— Joe Willock (@Joewillock) August 20, 2023
Aside from having fond memories to look back on, there is a personal and professional impact of this faith on players.
“I’m not a religious person myself, but Eddie and the family are. I think that helped him along the way,” Bill Cawley, Nketiah’s former head of PE at Addey & Stanhope School tells The Athletic.
“He was grounded with his religion and had very strong religious beliefs; his parents really emphasised that. That has helped him understand it is about work ethic.”
Does Nketiah feel that is a fair reflection? “I think so. It’s something that gives us a purpose in life and is something that has always been part of my life,” he says.
Eze was brought up in a Christian household in Greenwich — not too far from Nketiah in Lewisham — and told The Athletic in April: “It’s hugely important, simply because of the peace of mind it gives me. It allows me to regulate myself and put things into perspective.”
Speaking to The Athletic, Millwall defender Wes Harding, who was born in Leicester but elected to represent Jamaica in 2021, has a similar outlook. “It takes the burdens and the pressures away,” he says. “There’s a lot of pressure in football and in life. Sometimes you might feel like you are the only person going through something or all the weight is on you, but leaving it with the Lord in prayer and talking to other people who want to help makes it easier.
Buzzing to sign for @MillwallFC 🦁 looking forward to the season ahead 💪🏾#WeAreMillwall #PraiseHimInAdvance pic.twitter.com/1vbBN10GaU
— Huncho (@MrWesleyHarding) July 21, 2023
Rashford and Saka have remained at the top level of football despite the horrific online abuse they suffered in the aftermath of their missed penalties in the Euro 2020 final. The Manchester United forward, who was awarded an MBE in 2021 for his campaign to end child food poverty, has also said that if you compare his experiences growing up to his life now, it’s “impossible not to have faith in God and all he does for us”.
Harding believes that faith will have helped Rashford and Saka in the aftermath of the abuse they received. “Those gruelling months or weeks after missing the penalty, I assume it has given them a resilience that they can now walk with knowing that they’ve been through a tough time and the Lord has used it for their good. They are more resilient, they are more patient.”
For Nketiah, his release from Chelsea at 14 was one of the first times he felt the real impact of having that faith. “It feels like your world’s blown apart,” he recalls.
“I remember being with my family and praying about it, believing in God that I’d have another opportunity to show the talents I’ve been blessed with. Luckily, that came across really quickly with Arsenal. That was a defining moment for me and a big step in my faith to know, that whatever happens, God has always got me and that there will always be another chapter.”
Though most of today’s generation naturally grow up as friends from playing in the same club/country youth setups, there are also more organised groups for players of faith.
Harding has been involved with the former Crystal Palace and Tottenham midfielder John Bostock’s initiative Ballers in God for three years. The group was set up to develop players’ faith and bring about change. It has groups in England, France and the Netherlands.
God will use every situation we face to make to increase perseverance
DON’T GIVE UP, a greater trophy lays ahead!
“And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.” Galatians 6:9#BallersinGod #garnacho pic.twitter.com/Ui0d0Z7qHX
— Ballers In God (@BallersinGod) June 4, 2023
“We actually have a fellowship where we get together on Wednesdays and have a chat about faith and football, how we navigate that world and how we share our faith. I joined and I’ve just grown in faith and in football just from being around like-minded people. I love it,” Harding says.
“Every week we get together on Zoom, and monthly we get together physically in groups in London, the Midlands and the North in the regions to see each other face to face.
“The English group has a WhatsApp group with over 200 people in it. At our weekly meetings, we maybe have up to 50 players who come on and share what they’re going through.”
Like Nketiah, Eze and many others, Harding grew up as a Christian. Until the early stages of adulthood, he saw those Sundays as an obligation but they have since become a beneficial choice, showing its worth in the contrast of how others process what is happening to them.
“It works both ways,” he adds. “Some people have had bad experiences in church so they might not want to turn back to it. Sometimes there’s a benefit for people that come to it fresh (finding religion as adults).”
Players have different faiths or may not even practise one, but the main thing is that there is no competition when it comes to how they choose to express themselves. “It’s open,” Nketiah adds. “Some people have different beliefs, like Mohamed Elneny who is Muslim. He prays and there are areas for him to do so. What’s good about this environment is that it allows you to be open and express your faith.”
But in the age of social media and opinion, are there negative responses to openly expressing Christian faith? Nketiah is sanguine about it.
“Not necessarily, but there is backlash with everything these days. The main thing is being strong, confident and proud of who you are and what you represent,” he says.
“That’s never going to stop me from showcasing that. I respect everyone’s beliefs and I also feel we’re at a stage where we can express ourselves and showcase our platform. It’s great to see myself and other players do that.”
While stars at top clubs have more high-profile setbacks, such as missing penalties in major finals or losing title-deciding matches, some players face losing their livelihood at the end of each season with the threat of being without a club. That visibility and faith are particularly important for those players, who may not be lucky enough to be in the upper echelons of football.
Those who have made it to those heights, however, clearly put a big emphasis on their faith to keep them focused. Some may not get the opportunity to attend church as often as when they were kids, but Nketiah tries to go once or twice a month — when Arsenal play on Saturdays, for example — but manages to find time to re-centre when among their family.
Everyone has their own path — and it does not have to involve Christianity. Even so, this generation of young black Brits in elite-level football is reaping the rewards of having something that helps give them purpose and peace of mind.
(Top photos: Getty Images; design: Eamonn Dalton)
