Film: Conor Coady

Transcript

[Conor Coady]

I grew up in a little town called St Helens, obviously up towards like Liverpool ways, and for me it was great.

It was a very diverse place. It was something where racism and things like that didn't really exist.

I'll be totally honest with you, it probably did, and it's probably my fault I was quite, not onto it.

I feel a bit bad sometimes, I'll be honest, that I never got them feelings that black players did.

Yes, my eyes are open now, a lot more now that I'm older and wiser and I'm more experienced.

I see what's going on, which I think it's absolutely ridiculous for this day and age, I'll be totally honest with you.

I think it's something as you grow up and as you grow older, you see what people actually go through.

And for me, like I said, it was something when I was a kid,I maybe had, I don't know, some sort of blinkers on,

I didn't see these things. And that's probably my own fault but for me, things were just normal.

I was never brought up any different, everybody was the same in my eyes.

I played football from a very, very young age, where I played with a lot of black footballers, Asian footballers, and things were all just normal to me.

I was involved in captain's meetings over the lockdown, and meetings regarding racism and regarding things to come back.

And one of them was obviously taking the knee and the Black Lives Matter and the logos on the shirts and different things.

And, it opened my eyes a little bit just to see what people are going through.

It's shocking, honestly, it's absolutely shocking. I can't imagine what I'd be like in that situation.

But, what we can do as footballers is help and help with the platform that we have.

I think as soon as it happens tell someone, straight away. Don't bottle it up.

I think it will make it hard for yourself if you bottle it up. You think about it more and more and more.

I think it's important that you report it, you tell parents, friends, people who can make change and make things happen.

I think it's important you tell them straight away because I think if you're sat in your bedroom at home and you see these things happen and you start bottling it up, it becomes worse.