Liverpool first black footballer turns down Queens MBE, because it would be betrayal of Africans who suffered under British empire

Howard Gayle, the first black footballer to play for Liverpool has turned down an MBE nomination. The 58-year-old Toxteth-born footballer said it would be "a betrayal" to Africans who suffered at the hands of the British Empire.

In a Facebook post published on August 10, Gayle, who made his Reds debut in 1977 and also played for Blackburn Rovers, Sunderland and Newcastle, said he had to decline the nomination, for his 'Show Racism the Red Card' campaign work, as his ancestors would be "turning in their graves"