Mark Bright: 'We could have changed history – and got Alex Ferguson the sack'

Mark Bright: We could have changed history – and got Alex Ferguson the sack
(Image credit: Getty Images)

How much did your childhood shape you as a footballer?
My childhood, as difficult as it was in places, totally shaped me as a man and a footballer. Having to move into foster care, being a kid from a mixed heritage in Stoke, experiencing racism in the 1970s, it was hard. The thing is, with setbacks came dreams. My old teacher, the wonderful Mr Arkles, used to worry that I was too much of a dreamer, but you have to dream – and when Crystal Palace got to the 1990 FA Cup Final, that teacher sent me a congratulatory telegram. My experiences as a kid made me who I am now, so I wouldn’t change a thing. 

You started at Leek Town before securing a switch to Fourth Division Port Vale. How much of an education was that?
A good one but a tough one. I’d had stones thrown at me as a black kid growing up, and maybe it hardened me up for life in football back then. Playing amateur football, your skin gets toughened. It wasn’t easy and I learnt a lot about the game and life. It was difficult but like everything in my young life, I focused on the positives. There had been many black players paving the way for guys like me, and I’m so grateful to them, but it makes me so angry that today there’s still an issue. 

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Leo Moynihan

Leo Moynihan has been a freelance football writer and author for over 20 years. As well as contributing to FourFourTwo for all of that time, his words have also appeared in The Times, the Sunday Telegraph, the Guardian, Esquire, FHM and the Radio Times. He has written a number of books on football, including ghost projects with the likes of David Beckham and Andrew Cole, while his last two books, The Three Kings and Thou Shall Not Pass have both been recognised by the Sunday Times Sports Book of the Year awards.