CLAIM: Peter Ndlovu, the first African to play in the modern EPL
SOURCE: @ZBCNewsonline
VERDICT: True
The claim on Peter Ndlovu having been the first African player to feature in the English premier league has always been a cause for debate.
This claim is not new. The one from the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation is only the latest in a long line. And not the first to be queried either.
In 2018, an account, @ksegrp, asked, ‘@premierleague Why do you deem @Coventry_City Zimbababwean (sic) Peter Ndlovu the first #African to play in EPL in 92 when Bruce Grobelaar a fellow #Zimbabwean international was on @LFC books?’
This was the same question raised here and here.
Some have raised the race card to explain why it’s Ndlovu and not Grobbelaar, ‘Bruce started before EPL – yes – but he was STILL playing when it came about. Its the Caucasian, African debate really. For players OUT OF Africa, Bruce Grobelaar was first but Peter gets recognised because he is, well, African! @BonaventureBVM @KalushaPBwalya’.
However, the key is in the specifics.
Bruce Grobbelaar
According to FIFA, he was born in Durban before his family moved to Zimbabwe, then Rhodesia. He began his football career in Bulawayo, playing for Highlanders Football Club. He joined Liverpool Football Club in 1981 and was to spend 13 years at the club.
Peter Ndlovu
Ndlovu was born in 1973 in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. He played for Highlanders until he left for England to join Coventry City Football Club in 1991. He played in England from 1991 to 2004.
English Premier League
The Premier League is a private company wholly owned by its 20 Member Clubs who make up the League at any one time.
On 20 February 1992, the 22 First Division clubs had resigned from the Football League en masse and three months later, on 27 May, the Premier League was established as a limited company. The inaugural Premier League campaign started on Saturday 15 August, 1992, with 22 clubs.
Why Peter and not Bruce
The first ever Premier League match was on 15 August 1992. Both Coventry and Liverpool played that weekend. However, both Peter and Bruce were away on international duty. On 19 August 1992, Coventry City played against Tottenham. Peter Ndlovu became the first African player to grace the English Premier League when he featured for Coventry City against Tottenham, coming off the bench in the last 20 minutes of the game.
Grobbelaar on the other hand, was on the bench for Liverpool against Sheffield United, thus missing out on the accolade.
As the English Premier League has previously said, Ndlovu was the first African player to play in the league.
Conclusion
The claim that Peter Ndlovu is the first African to play in the modern EPL has been rated as true.
While it is true that Peter Ndlovu was the first African to play in the modern EPL, the whole story is a bit more complex. He was not the first African player to be signed up by an English Football Club, nor the first Zimbabwean. But he was, indeed, the first African to play in the English Premier League – black or white – having played just 4 days after the first ever EPL match. Grobbelaar while having spent more time by then playing for an English Club, missed out on the accolade, being away on international duty on his team’s first game and on the bench on the second.
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