Premier League players taking the knee ‘lost impact’, says Callum Wilson

Newcastle United striker Callum Wilson has backed the Premier League’s decision to limit taking the knee to certain games, saying the gesture had “lost its impact”.

Premier League players and officials have been taking the knee before every game every since the start of the 2020-21 season, as a protest against racism and social injustice in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement which grew momentum after the death of George Floyd.

After much debate about whether the taking of the knee was still getting its message across, the league decided this season to limit the gesture only to certain games.

Speaking on the Footballer’s Football Podcast with West Ham’s Michail Antonio, Wilson said it was the right decision.

“Doing it week to week just because it’s something we’ve been told to do... it’s probably faded and lost its impact,” he said. “I think it comes down to the government doing more, too. Everyone loves football. Football brings people together, but it can’t just be us trying to make that change.”

Players took the knee for the first round of matches last weekend, and will do so during the annual ‘No Room for Racism’ campaigns in October and March, as well as on Boxing Day, the final day of the season, the FA Cup final and the Carabao Cup final.

He added: “It’ll have more of an impact at big games. I wouldn’t say we should completely stop it, it still has impact. As kids are going to games, they always say, ‘why do they do that?’. I know for a fact that kids are asking the question. They’re getting educated.”