Johanneson was erected on the side of a building in Leeds, featuring himself beside Kalvin Phillips and Lucas Radebe. Johanneson in popular culture Today, Johanneson is hailed by many as having helped pave the way for the scores of black players that make up the ranks of the English Premiership, especially those with South African roots. He is also viewed as a courageous pioneer with regard to the racial discrimination he humbly endured from spectators who hurled monkey chants and bananas at him from the sidelines. In the words of footballing legend, George Best within whose era he played: "Albert was quite a brave man to actually go on the pitch in the first place, wasn't he? And he went out and did it. He had a lot of skill. A nice man as well ... which is, I suppose, the more important thing, isn't it? More important than anything." Johanneson features in several chapters of Kester Aspden's book The Hounding of David Oluwale, about Nigerian immigrant David Oluwale, who lived in Leeds for 20 years during the 50s and 60s. Writes Leeds United bibliographer Sam Gibbard: "Aspden details in several chapters Albert Johanneson and his experiences playing for Leeds United, drawing parallels between the two men, two of just 450 black men living in Leeds during the early 1960s. At the start, their lives couldn’t have been more different, and yet both men’s lives ended tragically and needlessly early". Johanneson is currently featured in the Out of Africa Campaign, a UK Heritage Lottery-funded, multimedia project and touring exhibition focused on the contributions of footballers from Africa who have made a substantial contribution to transforming professional football in Britain. In 2010, Johanneson was featured in an exhibition examining the history of South African footballers in the United Kingdom as part of the FIFA World Cup celebrations that took place in South Africa. The exhibit was researched by the Sheffield-based Football Unites, Racism Divides organisation and was hosted by the historic District Six Museum in Cape Town. In 2015, FURD and the District Six Museum and illustrator Archie Birch, from Cape Town, have joined forces to tell Albert's inspirational, yet sadly poignant story in comic book form: Albert Johanneson: the First Black Superstar. References External links Photo of Albert signing contract 1940 births 1995 deaths South African soccer players Leeds United F.C. players York City F.C. players Sportspeople from Germiston English