Former Town striker David McGoldrick initiated Sheffield United and Aston Villa players taking a knee to show their support for the Black Lives Matter movement at the start of their game on Wednesday, the first match of the Premier League’s return.
According to the Daily Mail, McGoldrick, 32, was the driving force behind the move which he and Blades skipper Billy Sharp then proposed to Villa keeper Tom Heaton.
The players - including ex-Town defender Tyrone Mings and former midfielder Conor Hourihane, both now with Villa - subs and staff from the two clubs as well as the match officials all knelt for 10 seconds after the whistle at the start of the game. The same then happened at the Manchester City and Arsenal match later that evening.
Kick It Out chairman Sanjay Bhandari said: "It was fantastic. It was so choreographed and so powerful. It is really important we have these gestures of solidarity.”
In addition, all Premier League players have ‘Black Lives Matter’ emblazoned on the back of their shirts for the first 12 matches of the resumed season.
Irish international McGoldrick, who recently signed a new Blades contract keeping him at Bramall Lane until 2022 having joined them after leaving the Blues in the summer of 2018, came on as a 69th minute sub in the 0-0 draw.
Proud. pic.twitter.com/idabo4Sp8A– Sheffield United (@SheffieldUnited) June 18, 2020