As a child Troy Deeney hated the school system. Today he wants to reform it.
The footballer, who was excluded at 15 because he “looked like trouble” and left without a single GCSE, is campaigning for black, Asian and minority ethnic history to be compulsory in schools across the country. It is optional in England, though mandated in Wales from September.
The 33-year-old believes “there is a direct link between the focus on slavery in history classrooms and the high rate of exclusion of young black boys”.
Deeney was born in Birmingham, the eldest of three siblings, and grew up in a tower block in Chelmsley Wood, at one point the largest council estate in Europe. He was raised by his mother, Emma, and stepfather
