In an extract from his book Made in Africa, Ed Aarons explains why the sons of activist Isaiah Stein made history in English
Football On 7 February 1968, a former boxer – known as ‘Boston Tababy’ in his fighting days – and his family arrived at Cape Town’s docks to board the ship that would take them to their new lives. Isaiah Stein had been hounded by the
police for his political activities with the fledgling ANC movement in his homeland and finally decided it was time to get out.
“We were all very excited,” recalls Edwin Stein, the eldest of three brothers born in
South Africa who would go on to play professional football in
England. “There were some other families that we knew who were going to
Canada and others who were coming with us to the
UK. It was all very organised because they knew we needed to get out of the country to try and create some pressure through the international community.”