Arthur Wharton
Encyclopedia
Arthur Wharton is widely considered to be the first black
professional
association football
player in the world. Though not the first black player outright - the amateur, and Scotland
international player, Andrew Watson predated him - Wharton was the first black professional and the first to play in the Football League.
, Gold Coast
(now Accra
, Ghana
), his father was half-Grenadian
and half-Scottish
, and his mother was a member of the Ghanaian royalty. He moved to England in 1882, to train as a Methodist missionary
, but soon abandoned this in favour of becoming a full-time athlete.
Wharton was an all-round sportsman - in 1886, he set a then world record of 10 seconds for a 100 yard sprint in the AAA championship. He was also a keen cyclist
and cricket
er, playing for local teams in Yorkshire
and Lancashire
. However, he is best remembered for his exploits as a footballer; while he was not the first mixed race footballer in the United Kingdom
— leading amateurs Robert Walker and Scotland international
Andrew Watson predate him — he was the first mixed race footballer to turn professional.
, where he was spotted by Preston North End
. He joined them as an amateur, and was part of the team that reached FA Cup
semi-finals in 1886-87
. Though part of "The Invincibles
" of the 1880s, he left Preston in 1888 to concentrate on his running, and thus was not part of the team that subsequently won the Double
in 1888-89
.
He returned to football in 1889, joining Rotherham Town
, signing as a professional. In 1894 he moved to Sheffield United
, though he was understudy to regular first-team goalkeeper William "Fatty" Foulke
. During the 1894-95
season, Wharton played three games for Sheffield United, against Leicester Fosse
, Linfield
and Sunderland
— the latter being a First Division
game, making Wharton the first mixed race player to play in the top flight.
In 1895 he left for Stalybridge Rovers
but after falling out with the management moved to Ashton North End
in 1897. Ashton went bankrupt in 1899, and he returned to Stalybridge Rovers, before seeing out his career playing for Stockport County
of the Second Division
in 1901-02
. As well as playing in goal, he would also occasionally feature outfield as a winger. He never won a major honour in the game during his career, nor was he capped at international level.
for recognition of Wharton's achievements. In 2003 Wharton was inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame
in recognition of the impact he made on the game. A campaign is currently running to have a statue erected in Darlington
as well as in Rotherham
to acknowledge his achievements, which has gained wide support within the professional game.
Black people
The term black people is used in systems of racial classification for humans of a dark skinned phenotype, relative to other racial groups.Different societies apply different criteria regarding who is classified as "black", and often social variables such as class, socio-economic status also plays a...
professional
Professional sports
Professional sports, as opposed to amateur sports, are sports in which athletes receive payment for their performance. Professional athleticism has come to the fore through a combination of developments. Mass media and increased leisure have brought larger audiences, so that sports organizations...
association football
Football (soccer)
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...
player in the world. Though not the first black player outright - the amateur, and Scotland
Scotland national football team
The Scotland national football team represents Scotland in international football and is controlled by the Scottish Football Association. Scotland are the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside England, whom they played in the world's first international football match in 1872...
international player, Andrew Watson predated him - Wharton was the first black professional and the first to play in the Football League.
Early life, ancestry and early career
Wharton was born in JamestownJamestown, Ghana
Located directly east of the Korle Lagoon, Jamestown and Usshertown are the oldest districts in the city of Accra, Ghana and emerged as communities around the 17th century British James Fort and Ussher Fort on the Gulf of Guinea coast...
, Gold Coast
Gold Coast (British colony)
The Gold Coast was a British colony on the Gulf of Guinea in west Africa that became the independent nation of Ghana in 1957.-Overview:The first Europeans to arrive at the coast were the Portuguese in 1471. They encountered a variety of African kingdoms, some of which controlled substantial...
(now Accra
Accra
Accra is the capital and largest city of Ghana, with an urban population of 1,658,937 according to the 2000 census. Accra is also the capital of the Greater Accra Region and of the Accra Metropolitan District, with which it is coterminous...
, Ghana
Ghana
Ghana , officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country located in West Africa. It is bordered by Côte d'Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, Togo to the east, and the Gulf of Guinea to the south...
), his father was half-Grenadian
Grenada
Grenada is an island country and Commonwealth Realm consisting of the island of Grenada and six smaller islands at the southern end of the Grenadines in the southeastern Caribbean Sea...
and half-Scottish
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, and his mother was a member of the Ghanaian royalty. He moved to England in 1882, to train as a Methodist missionary
Missionary
A missionary is a member of a religious group sent into an area to do evangelism or ministries of service, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care and economic development. The word "mission" originates from 1598 when the Jesuits sent members abroad, derived from the Latin...
, but soon abandoned this in favour of becoming a full-time athlete.
Wharton was an all-round sportsman - in 1886, he set a then world record of 10 seconds for a 100 yard sprint in the AAA championship. He was also a keen cyclist
Cycling
Cycling, also called bicycling or biking, is the use of bicycles for transport, recreation, or for sport. Persons engaged in cycling are cyclists or bicyclists...
and cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
er, playing for local teams in Yorkshire
Yorkshire
Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...
and Lancashire
Lancashire
Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...
. However, he is best remembered for his exploits as a footballer; while he was not the first mixed race footballer in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
— leading amateurs Robert Walker and Scotland international
Scotland national football team
The Scotland national football team represents Scotland in international football and is controlled by the Scottish Football Association. Scotland are the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside England, whom they played in the world's first international football match in 1872...
Andrew Watson predate him — he was the first mixed race footballer to turn professional.
Football career
Wharton started as an amateur playing as a goalkeeper for DarlingtonDarlington F.C.
Darlington Football Club is a professional association football club based in Darlington, County Durham, currently playing in the Conference National. The club was founded in 1883, and originally played its games at Feethams, before moving to the Darlington Arena in 2003...
, where he was spotted by Preston North End
Preston North End F.C.
Preston North End Football Club is an English professional football club located in the Deepdale area of the city of Preston, Lancashire, currently playing in the third tier of English league football, League One...
. He joined them as an amateur, and was part of the team that reached FA Cup
FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's...
semi-finals in 1886-87
1886-87 in English football
The 1886–1887 season was the 16th season of competitive football in England.-Events:* Dial Square FC are founded by workers at the Royal Arsenal, Woolwich, and play their first match on 11 December...
. Though part of "The Invincibles
The Invincibles (football)
In English football, "The Invincibles" has been used to refer to either the Preston North End team of the 1880s, or the Arsenal team of the 2003–04 season...
" of the 1880s, he left Preston in 1888 to concentrate on his running, and thus was not part of the team that subsequently won the Double
The Double
The Double is a term in association football which refers to winning a country's top tier division and its primary cup competition in the same season...
in 1888-89
1888-89 in English football
The 1888–1889 season was the 18th season of competitive football in England.-Overview:A new competition, The Football League, started this season...
.
He returned to football in 1889, joining Rotherham Town
Rotherham Town F.C.
Rotherham Town Football Club was the name of two English football clubs from Rotherham, Yorkshire. The first briefly played in the Football League, while the second became part of another Football League club, Rotherham United, who are still members of the League today...
, signing as a professional. In 1894 he moved to Sheffield United
Sheffield United F.C.
Sheffield United Football Club is a professional English football club based in the city of Sheffield, South Yorkshire.They were the first sporting team to use the name 'United' and are nicknamed 'The Blades', thanks to Sheffield's worldwide reputation for steel production...
, though he was understudy to regular first-team goalkeeper William "Fatty" Foulke
William Foulke (footballer)
William Henry "Fatty" Foulke was a professional cricketer and football player in England in the late 19th and early 20th centuries...
. During the 1894-95
1894-95 in English football
The 1894–95 season was the 24th season of competitive football in England.-Football League:Following the collapse of Middlesbrough Ironopolis and the resignation of Northwich Victoria, three new teams were admitted to the Second Division, bringing it to 16 teams...
season, Wharton played three games for Sheffield United, against Leicester Fosse
Leicester City F.C.
Leicester City Football Club , also known as The Foxes, is an English professional football club based at the King Power Stadium in Leicester...
, Linfield
Linfield F.C.
Linfield F.C. , is a semi-professional, Northern Irish football club, whose home ground is Windsor Park in Belfast, which is also the home of the Northern Ireland international team....
and Sunderland
Sunderland A.F.C.
Sunderland Association Football Club is an English association football club based in Sunderland, Tyne and Wear who currently play in the Premier League...
— the latter being a First Division
Football League First Division
The First Division was a division of The Football League between 1888 and 2004 and the highest division in English football until the creation of the Premier League in 1992. The secondary tier in English football has since become known as the Championship....
game, making Wharton the first mixed race player to play in the top flight.
In 1895 he left for Stalybridge Rovers
Stalybridge Rovers F.C.
Stalybridge Rovers Football Club was an English football club from Stalybridge, Cheshire at the end of the 19th century and early 20th century.-History:...
but after falling out with the management moved to Ashton North End
Ashton North End F.C.
Ashton North End Football Club were an English football club from Ashton-under-Lyne at the end of the 19th century.-History:Ashton North End finished top of the Ashton & District League in 1891-92, and joined The Combination in 1894. They were Combination champions in their first season. In 1895...
in 1897. Ashton went bankrupt in 1899, and he returned to Stalybridge Rovers, before seeing out his career playing for Stockport County
Stockport County F.C.
Stockport County Football Club is an English football club based in Stockport, Greater Manchester. The club formed in 1883 as Heaton Norris Rovers, shortly afterwards merging with Heaton Norris F.C., and adopted the current name on 24 May 1890 on the creation of the County Borough of Stockport...
of the Second Division
Football League Second Division
From 1892 until 1992, the Football League Second Division was the second highest division overall in English football.This ended with the creation of the FA Premier League, prior to the start of the 1992–93 season, which caused an administrative split between The Football League and the teams...
in 1901-02
1901-02 in English football
The 1901–02 season was the 31st season of competitive football in England.-League changes:Doncaster Rovers and Burton United replaced Walsall and Burton Swifts in the Football League. Burton United were formed by a merger of Burton Swifts with former League side Burton Wanderers...
. As well as playing in goal, he would also occasionally feature outfield as a winger. He never won a major honour in the game during his career, nor was he capped at international level.
Legacy
His grave was given a headstone in 1997 after a campaign by anti-racism campaigners Football Unites, Racism DividesFootball Unites, Racism Divides
Football Unites, Racism Divides is a youth and social inclusion project and charity based in Sheffield, England which uses football as a tool to 'break down barriers created by ignorance or prejudice'...
for recognition of Wharton's achievements. In 2003 Wharton was inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame
English Football Hall of Fame
The English Football Hall of Fame is housed at the National Football Museum, currently being relocated to Manchester, England. The Hall aims to celebrate and highlight the achievements of the all-time top English footballing talents, as well as non-English players and managers who have become...
in recognition of the impact he made on the game. A campaign is currently running to have a statue erected in Darlington
Darlington
Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, part of the ceremonial county of County Durham, England. It lies on the small River Skerne, a tributary of the River Tees, not far from the main river. It is the main population centre in the borough, with a population of 97,838 as of 2001...
as well as in Rotherham
Rotherham
Rotherham is a town in South Yorkshire, England. It lies on the River Don, at its confluence with the River Rother, between Sheffield and Doncaster. Rotherham, at from Sheffield City Centre, is surrounded by several smaller settlements, which together form the wider Metropolitan Borough of...
to acknowledge his achievements, which has gained wide support within the professional game.
Further reading
- Phil Vasili, The First Black Footballer, Arthur Wharton, 1865-1930: an absence of memory (ISBN 0-7146-4903-1)
- Phil Vasili Colouring Over the White Line. The History of Black Footballers in Britain (ISBN 1-84018-296-2)