Paul Davis wins the inaugural Kevin Campbell Captains Award at the Trailblazers Awards

Former Arsenal midfielder Paul Davis has won an award named after his old Gunners team-mate Kevin Campbell, who died earlier this year.

Davis, who played 447 times in a 17-year career with Arsenal, received the Kevin Campbell Captains Award at the inaugural Trailblazers Awards organized by the Black Footballers Partnership (BFP) in the House of Commons on Thursday evening.

Campbell died aged 54 in June and his sister Lorna, director of the Kevin Campbell Foundation, presented the award to Davis.

“We know that Kevin loved Paul even more and that no one would want better to be the inaugural winner of the Captains Award,” he said.

“The younger players knew Paul as ‘Pops’, respected by all. And we all know that his career off the field has been dedicated to showing leadership and inspiring a new generation of coaches and people in the community to give back, which is what the Kevin Campbell Foundation is all about. We lost Kevin too soon, but these awards and other initiatives will help keep his legacy alive.”

Since his retirement, Davis has worked with the Professional Footballers’ Association as a coach educator and with anti-discrimination charities Kick It Out and Show Racism The Red Card.

Also honored at the event were former England internationals Ricky Hill and Mary Phillip, as well as experienced coach Chris Hughton.

Phillip was the first black woman to captain England and won 65 caps for the Lionesses. He was a key part of the team that reached the quarter-finals of the World Cup in 2007.

She received the Emma Clarke Award, named after England’s first black female footballer.

Hill, a star of the Luton team in the 1980s and the first South Asian Briton to play for England, won the Arthur Wharton Award named after the world’s first black professional footballer.

Hughton, who has managed Newcastle, Birmingham and Brighton among others, as well as the Ghana national team, received the Tony Collins Award.

Collins began managing Rochdale in 1960, becoming the first black manager in the Football League.

Collins’ daughter Sandra Hepworth said: “Our father didn’t talk about the challenges he faced, but we know he fought to reach the heights his talents deserved.

“He started managing Rochdale in 1960 and loved it. Yet here we are 64 years after he started his managerial career and there are only two black managers out of 92 in 2024.

“We hope these Trailblazers Awards will make the game reflect on its past and what needs to happen in the future.”

The awards were decided by polls among BFP members.

BFP co-founder Delroy Corinaldi said: “While tonight’s awards celebrate the trailblazers of the past by rewarding the trailblazers of the future, we cannot ignore the fact that with 43% of top professionals being heritage black, it is still a scandal that only two clubs out of 92 in all the leagues have a black coach.

“Black players stand out on the pitch, make their badges and want to stand out off the pitch, but they hit the ‘turf ceiling’ when they leave the pitch.

“The data is clearer at board and executive levels, where only 1.6% of posts are held by people of black heritage. The game needs to do better and the Government has a duty of care to black football community and cannot ignore this scandal, as it considers the competence of the football regulator”.