Roly Gregoire

Roly Gregoire
Personal information
Full name Roland Barry Gregoire[1]
Date of birth (1958-11-23) 23 November 1958
Place of birth Liverpool, England
Position Striker
Youth career
Halifax Town
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1977–1978 Halifax Town 5 (0)
1978–1980 Sunderland 9 (1)
Total 14 (1)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals

Roland Barry Gregoire (born 23 November 1958) is an English former professional footballer who played as a striker.

Early and personal life

Gregoire was born in Toxteth, Liverpool to Dominican parents, who had been part of the Windrush generation.[2] He grew up in Bradford,[2] and was educated at St Bede's Grammar School.[3][4][5]

Career

He began his career with Halifax Town, making five league appearances in the 1977–78 season.[6] Gregoire moved to Sunderland for £5,000 in January 1978, becoming the first black player to play for them.[7][8] Whilst playing for Halifax reserves, Gregoire scored a hat-trick against Sunderland reserves to prompt Sunderland manager Jimmy Adamson into signing him.[9] He made his debut for Sunderland against Hull City due to injuries to other first team strikers.[9] Gregoire spent two seasons with Sunderland — scoring one goal in nine league appearances — before retiring in 1980 due to injury.[10][11]

In May 2026, Gregoire told BBC Look North that he suffered so much racism that he had not been able to talk about it publicly for 46 years. It also put him off watching football for a long time.[2]

Later life

After leaving football, he lived and worked in London. When living in Dominica he became a Rastafarian, taking the name Jabari Muata Ta Seti. He returned to Bradford and worked as a voluntary counsellor, also setting up the anti-drugs charity Black Against Crack in the mid-1990s.[2]

References

  1. ↑ "Roly Gregoire". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Archived from the original on 8 June 2024. Retrieved 28 February 2019.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Brown, Jeff (27 May 2026). "Roly Gregoire: Sunderland's first black player describes impact of racism". BBC Sport.
  3. ↑ "St Bede's Magazine Bradford - Summer 1973" (PDF). Squarespace. 1973. Retrieved 18 April 2020.
  4. ↑ "St Bede's Magazine Bradford - Summer 1974" (PDF). Squarespace. 1974. Retrieved 18 April 2020.
  5. ↑ "St Bede's Magazine Bradford - Summer 1975" (PDF). pcug.org.au. 1975. Retrieved 18 April 2020.
  6. ↑ "HALIFAX TOWN : 1946/47 - 1992/93 & 1998/99 - 2001/02". Post War English & Scottish Football League A — Z Player's Database. Retrieved 18 September 2009.
  7. ↑ "First Black Footballers To Play For Premier League Clubs". EPL Talk. 14 October 2008. Archived from the original on 1 February 2011. Retrieved 18 September 2009.
  8. ↑ "Minority Report". A Love Supreme. Retrieved 18 September 2009.
  9. 1 2 Dykes, Garth; Lamming, Doug (November 2000). All the lads: A complete who's who of Sunderland A.F.C. Polar Print Group Ltd. p. 312. ISBN 978-1-899538-14-0.
  10. ↑ "SUNDERLAND : 1946/47 - 2008/09". Post War English & Scottish Football League A — Z Player's Database. Retrieved 18 September 2009.
  11. ↑ "Joanna presents strong challenge". The Northern Echo. 21 July 2003. Retrieved 18 September 2009.
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