The Wolverhampton Wanderers striker Freddy Eastwood is currently the only high-profile member of the Gypsy community playing football in the UK.
Eastwood is proud of his heritage, and explains:
"My background has helped me in my career, because we're strong people, very close, and even now I'm living in Wolverhampton my family are at every game"
Sadly, Eastwood has had to put up with abuse throughout his career. "I do get picked out. I've never hidden who I am or where I come from, and because of that I get a lot of stick from other fans. I get 'pikey' shouted at me. Or I get 'Gypsy' or 'Gyppo'."
HISTORY
But though the Wales international may be on his own for the time being, history shows that there have been many players with similar backgrounds over the years.
Raby Howell, who played for Sheffield United and Liverpool in the 1890s is thought to be the only full-blooded Romany to have played for England. He earned two caps for his country between 1895 and 1898.
EUROPE
Elsewhere in Europe, others of a Gypsy background have risen to the top of the game. Dragoslav Sekularac was a key player for Yugoslavia in the 1958 and 1962 World Cups. He was born into the Vasojevici community in northern Montenegro.
Romanian forward Marius Lacatus, who represented his country in two World Cups, and the Yugoslavian defender Sinisa Mihajlovic, who had a long and illustrious career including spells with Lazio, Inter Milan and Roma, also both hail from a Gypsy background.
CURRENT PLAYERS
In terms of current players, as well as Eastwood, there is also Jose Antonio Reyes, formerly of Arsenal, and currently playing for Atletico Madrid, who was born and raised in a well known Gypsy area in Utrera, a small town south-east of Seville in Spain.
It is also hoped that the next generation of talent in this country will see the Gypsy community represented further, especially with current success stories such as Ilona Marjanska, a Polish member of the Roma community.
ABUSE
Ilona arrived in the UK at the age of six, and the only English words she knew were 'apple' and 'dog'. Ten years later, she was studying for her A-Levels and playing for two women's teams, Roma United and Leyton Orient Ladies.
She explained: "My family left Poland in 1996 when I was six because of the hatred against the Roma. My father was beaten and we were getting so much abuse. Britain was different. I learnt English within three months and made friends. My greatest ambition is to play professionally for Leyton Orient and England or Poland."
