Liverpool teen to perform Black History Month poem about John Barnes for BT Sport

BT Sport is marking Black History Month throughout October by celebrating, amplifying, and honouring the sporting contributions of some of the most iconic athletes in history, with Sport in Words.

Sport in Words looks fuses the Life & Rhymes poetry slam style with an overarching focus on themes of sport and black history.

Airing this Sunday 6pm, some of the UK’s best spoken-word artists will perform pieces to a star-studded audience celebrating and honouring different black sporting legends.

One of the incredible performers is Joseph Roberts, an 18-year-old from Liverpool, who will be delivering a piece about football legend John Barnes.

Who is Joseph Roberts?

Starting his poetry journey just two years ago, the Liverpool John Moores student has become very successful thus far, performing in Liverpool, Manchester and London and winning the UK’s Best Spoken Word Newcomer award, this year.

The teen was previously commissoned by Liverpool City Council to write a poem about knife crime, which was a great success and he has also featured on BBC Radio Merseyside.

Joseph’s latest work

Joseph’s latest piece for Sport in Words, ‘One Common Goal’, has been written about football legend, John Barnes, celebrating his achievements and how he has overcome adversity.

The Liverpudlian poet has expressed his excitement to be featured on BT Sport, highlighting: “BT Sport has never put on a spoken word show before.”

Sport in Words airs on BT Sport 1 at 6pm on Sunday 2 October and the featured poems will be shown on the channel throughout the month.