Enoch Powell and Ron Atkinson have a couple of things in common. Both are infamous for making racially charged comments, both have Midlands connections, and both have encouraged the employment of black people in England at a time when it was frowned upon.
Powell encouraged Commonwealth citizens to come to Britain and work in the NHS, and thus is partially responsible for the evolution of a Black British middle-class.
Big Ron revolutionised football by fielding "The Three Degrees" (Cyrille Regis, Brendon Batson & Laurie Cunningham) at West Bromich Albion, thus allowing a generation of Black British footballers to be employed, regardless of the level of melanin in their skin.
So it was with some vague interest that I watched Big Ron Manager last night. And what a corker. Absolute car-crash TV - essential viewing. Big Ron comes into a lower-league footy club to act as a troubleshooter.
Apparently Sky One had tried to set up the documentary with Iffy Onuora at Swindon Town but Iffy refused to continue with the programme after a month, due to perceived "interference" by Ron.
Next, they allegedly had to pay the chairman of Peterborough Utd, and mate of Big Ron, Barry Fry a £100k sweetener to take on the project.
There's an overview of the series (with spoliers, assuming you don't read the sports pages) in The Mirror.
It's so much better than viewing than the God-awful Excuse My French. Big Ron may have called Marcel Desailly "a fucking lazy, thick nigger", but at least he's fluently bilingual as a sports pundit, eh Ron?
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