Lady Mayoress of Portsmouth Marie Costa 'disappointed' at lack of Black History Month inclusion at Portsmouth Football Club exhibition

Ms Costa publicly shared her frustration and ‘disappointment’ at the launch of the Portsmouth Museum and Art Gallery's refreshed Pompey gallery, which paid tribute to 1940s player Lindy Delapenha as part of Black History Month.

The event witnessed a number of banners exploring the history of the club and the fans through the ages.

During the event, Ms Costa stood up to speak about the importance of Black History Month and her ongoing project, Portsmouth Black History, which is aiming to get children in schools involved in the history of significant black people in Portsmouth history.

She is waiting for funding from Portsmouth City Council to finance a live website to which young people can add black history after completing research.

However, during her speech, she expressed frustration at the organisation of the event, as she felt there was not enough spotlight on black history and was disheartened that she was not welcomed to be more involved as the head of the Portsmouth Black History project.

She said: ‘It gives statutory bodies the opportunity to use this sort of event as a one-off on one day to celebrate everything that black people have achieved. It is not enough.

‘We have got people in history that we should be proud of. We. Not just me. Not just the African-Caribbeans. All of us.’

She said that she was a ‘bit disappointed’ that the organisers did not reach out.

Marie added: ‘They know who we are and they didn’t even get in touch with us.

‘They had £81,000 and they couldn’t even give us a cup of tea.’

Duke Harrison-Hunter, the equality diversity and inclusion leader for Pompey in the Community, said: ‘I was never taught black history in school, I was taught Henry VIII and it was only until recently that they started teaching it.’

The rest of the event saw Colin Farmery talk about the gallery, as well as the launch of a new book called Pompey Champions of England, which is a compilation of oral interviews and case studies about the era that Portsmouth Football Club ruled the roost in football.

Colin discussed how the Pompey History Society had managed to secure £30,000 which allowed them to purchase trophy replicas which cost £15,000, and now sit at Fratton Park.

He spoke about their funding of £81,500, which was given to them by the Heritage Trust and allowed them to undertake writing the book, which is now on sale for the public.

During the presentation, Colin also touched upon the legacy that Lindy Delapenha had on football and paid tribute to a list of black players that have been part of Portsmouth Football Club since then.

Lindy Delapenha was the first Jamaican football player to join Portsmouth football club between 1948 and 1950 and played a significant role in inclusion within football.

Colin said: ‘First and foremost, it is a very proud moment for me.

‘Lindy wasn’t a star player of that team, he played about eight games across the two seasons but he was a pioneer, he was the first black player to play on Portsmouth.’