Football’s Pioneers: Paul Canoville

Paul Canoville made his debut for Chelsea, then in the Second Division, against Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park, on Monday 12 April, 1982. While this should have fulfilled his life’s ambition as a professional footballer, it turned into an awful night because he faced the type of racial abuse which black players endured during the 1980s; in this case from his own fans.

He was born in Southall in 1962 to West Indian parents and brought up by his mother, Udine Particia Lake (Patsy), who wanted him to become either a politician or a doctor. But Paul gravitated towards sport, especially cricket and football. Like his contemporary Ian Wright, he did not go straight from school into professional football but worked in a series of real jobs in London, as well as having scrapes with the law. He initially played for Hillingdon Borough from 1979 and, after Chelsea scouts saw him, he joined the club in December 1981.

He would spend much of his career as a substitute, brought on to run down the wing and make an impact, although he would play an important role in the team which returned Chelsea to the First Division in the 1983/84 season, alongside players such as David Speedie, Kerry Dixon and Pat Nevin. One of his defining performances came in a League Cup Fifth Round replay at Hillsborough against Sheffield Wednesday on Wednesday 30 January. 1985. Canoville came on at half-time and scored two goals, including what seemed the winner, but a late penalty brought it back to 4-4.

Canoville played 79 times for Chelsea, 26 as a sub, and left in August 1986 to join Reading, having fallen out of favour. He made a further 16 appearances for Reading and scored four goals. He sustained a serious knee injury at Roker Park in October 1986 which effectively ended his career. He fell on hard times, including drug addiction and cancer, but Chelsea rediscovered him in the early 21st century as their first black player.

Although he did not have quite the distinguished career of some of his black contemporaries, like Ian Wright and Cyrille Regis, he would become a symbol of the viciousness of 1980s terrace racism, recalled in his 2008 award winning autobiography Black and Blue.