After the pair first crossed paths at the AXA Training Centre last year, the current Liverpool No.30 recently visited Toxteth to speak to the former Reds striker, who became the club’s first Black player when he debuted in October 1980.

Gayle would go on to make five appearances - including in the 1981 European Cup semi-final against Bayern Munich - and score once for his boyhood team.

He had to overcome a climate of racist abuse, ignorance and intolerance - in life and football - to break down a barrier for many who have followed and leave a permanent legacy.

“I was at a stage where I was going to walk away from football,” Gayle tells Frimpong. “But I was getting a chance that nobody had ever had before.

“Nobody had gone into the club from our area.

“My brothers got hold of me [and said]: ‘If you don’t go back there, it’s finished for the rest of us. The next kids are not going to get in, because they’ll see that you’re weak.’

“There weren’t many Black players then and I was trying to get into the biggest football club on the planet. And maybe it was a learning curve for football clubs.”

Frimpong, now 25, shares his own journey with Gayle, which included time growing up in Amsterdam and Manchester before progressing to become a professional player.

The Netherlands international also opens up on a particular incident of being subjected to racist taunts when on the pitch, and his own approach to responding.

“The way I grew up is completely different to how you grew up, obviously,” he says. “Racism is always there, even until now it’s still there.

“I’ve not done anything wrong to them. At the end of the day, I’m just playing football.

“For me, my thing is, if you’re racist to me and we win the game - that’s my answer.”

Frimpong adds of Gayle: “For him to go through that and still play football… because not many Black people made it.

“To be mentally strong and take it, it shows if he can do it, you can do it as well.”

The theme of this year’s Black History Month is ‘Honouring Our Communities’, recognising ‘everyday acts of leadership, care, service, creativity, courage and commitment’.

LFC’s dedicated No Room For Racism fixture comes at home to Brighton & Hove Albion this Sunday (October 25).

Earlier this week, Reds captain Virgil van Dijk and the club supported the Premier League’s No Room for Racism campaign.

Alongside this, LFC Foundation is working with Red Together, LFC’s equality, diversity and inclusion programme, to bring this month’s theme to life for the next generation.

Red Together is part of The Red Way, the club’s ongoing commitment to creating a better future for our people, planet and communities. Find out more here.