Black community Quote by John Barnes

What they say about footballers being ignorant is rubbish. I spoke to a couple yesterday and they are quite intelligent.

— Raquel Welch

Fundamentally, footballers don't look around a dressing room and think, 'He's a black player... he's Japanese.' They don't think like that. They think, 'He's…

— Gary Lineker

I feel sorry sometimes for these sportsmen and women who put in just as much effort as the footballers. For example, athletes train at…

— Angela Merkel

Footballers need to be aware kids look up to them.

— Raheem Sterling

The opportunities for black cultures need to change and we need to get more culture in higher positions in football, because I think the…

— Andre Gray

How many black people are there in the higher echelons of any industry? We can talk about journalism, we can talk about politics. So…

— John Barnes

People talk about footballers and they get a bad press when not all of them deserve it.

— Gordon Strachan

I think people don't really understand how much footballers are affected by the people in their lives. When we're interviewed, people always ask about…

— Ivan Rakitic

Footballers have a great opportunity to be a good example because the kids want to listen to you and be like you in many…

— David Luiz

Kids want to be professional footballers and I think they need to know what it takes to get there - you know, the dedication.…

— John Terry

Part of what depresses me so much about football is that it's so clearly about exploiting people, most of them poor boys of color,…

— Steve Almond

A lack of street footballers dulls the imagination, dulls that natural thinking outside the box. You need that on the street when you're 9…

— Sol Campbell