Sheffield Wednesday and Jamaica striker Deon Burton
Deon Burton is currently spearheading Sheffield Wednesday's attempts to make it back to the Premier League. We asked him about Wednesday, Jamaica and discrimination.
Sheffield Wednesday have had a fairly decent start to the season, how do you rate the team’s chances of gaining promotion?
We have to believe that anything’s possible. We have a fairly small squad, and so far we’ve been quite lucky with injuries, but if it stays like that we are definitely capable of challenging. We just have to keep working hard and do our best to stay fit and keep pushing on.
Your career has taken you to nine different clubs up and down the country, are there noticeable differences between clubs, both culturally and from a football point of view?
There have been a number of differences, I’ve played in all four divisions and you definitely notice differences from one club to another. Some teams have small squads and are predominantly made up of local players, whilst others, especially in the Premier League, have vast squads made up of international players.
I’ve definitely benefitted from experiencing the game in so many different places and I wouldn’t change it if I had the choice. I’ve challenged myself at every level, with different types of managers, different styles of play and different atmospheres, but it’s all been worth it.
You were amongst the first wave of British-born Jamaicans to play for their country and you were instrumental in Jamaica’s qualification for the 1998 World cup, to the extent that you were named Jamaica Sportsman of the Year in 1997, how did that experience affect you?
Playing for Jamaica is a big part of my life, and around that period from 1997 to 1998 I’d just moved from Portsmouth in what was then the First Division to join Derby County in the Premier League. Then, a month later I made my international debut and was playing with top quality players, and ended up with four goals in my first five games.
It was absolutely incredible, and winning the Sportsman of the Year was a huge honour. The World Cup itself was an amazing experience, it’s every footballer’s dream to play in a tournament of that magnitude.
Though Wednesday’s squad is predominantly English, you have been part of some fairly diverse sides in previous years, how do you think the mix of nationalities and backgrounds affects a club’s dressing room?
Different nationalities bring different mentalities, but the diverse backgrounds really help in the dressing room, and I think that a club benefits from having a wide mix of backgrounds.
Sheffield is famously a two-club city with a fairly intense rivalry, you played in your first Sheffield derby last season and this year the first one will take place during Kick It Out’s weeks of action, can you describe the atmosphere on derby day?
Amazing, the Sheffield derby one of the biggest, and the atmosphere on matchday is unbelievable. You can feel it travelling around the city, and when you arrive at the ground it’s on another level.
Have you personally ever experienced or been witness to discrimination or racism during your career?
Unfortunately, you always have some idiots who don’t think they’re doing any harm, and it’s up to campaigns like Kick It Out to help educate them. If the people at the top can work towards finding ways to eradicate it once and for all then that would be a huge positive.
What advice would you give to any young people that may be suffering from discrimination?
I would advise them to make it known, so people are taking notice and hopefully doing something about it. It’s hard to know where to turn, but if no one knows what’s happening, they won’t be able to do anything about it.
