CES PODD ALSO KNOWN AS CYRIL

A chance phone call to an old college chum and suddenly the coincidences start flooding in. He had read my blog (as you will have done) about the first "black" footballers and he remembered Ces Podd, whose unusual name made him stand out in the Football League, as much as the colour of his skin did. I am talking about the 1970s, when I can remember playing with and against my "first" black players, in the Isthmian League-a novelty at the time.

Ces has been a bit of an hero. Born in 1952, he came from St Kitts and Nevis, in the Caribbean at 9 years old and after education, he enlisted in the Bradford College of Art, having failed to make his mark with Manchester United as a youth player at 16.

It was Bradford City's luck that they got Ces in 1970, as a right back and he stayed with the club for 14 years, turning out 565 times in various competitions. He became a legend at Valley Parade but eventually moved on to Halifax from 1984-86, playing 57 times and then to Scarborough Town, briefly, ending up somewhere near Osset Town FC. Coincidently, my U12s play Ossett Town on Sunday....in the Huddersfield and District Junior League. It's a small world.
Ces championed black footballers and continued his good work back in his home country, where he managed the national team in 1999 for three years.

Involved in community work, he set up a "Salsa Dance" Company in Leeds called X-Ces which was aimed at the more deprived areas of the city, like Chapeltown, for example, bringing exercise and discipline into the less well looked after parts of the urban area. He also was involved with Leeds United Academy and became their Community Officer under Howard Wilkinson.

Ces became heavily involved in the issue of racism, both in the city and in football, so much so that his testimonial (the first granted by the FA for a black professional footballer) at Bradford City in 1980, involved a match against a "Black All Stars XI" including Luther Blissett, Garth Crooks, Vince Hilare and others.
Ces is presently Technical Director for the St Lucia FA.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2yj_Apdy_XM