Arthur Wharton
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Arthur Wharton, (October 28, 1865 – December 13, 1930) was the first black professional association football player in the world. (Leading amateur and Scotland international, Andrew Watson predates him by eleven years.) Wharton was born in Jamestown, Gold Coast (now Accra, Ghana), his father was half-Grenadian and half-Scottish, and his mother was a half-Scottish 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 started as an amateur playing as a goalkeeper for Darlington, and then Preston North End (with whom he reached the FA Cup semi-finals in 1887). He became the first black professional footballer when he joined Rotherham Town in 1889 playing as a goalkeeper. He would later play one league game for Sheffield United, though he was overshadowed (perhaps in more than one way) by William "Fatty" Foulke. As well as playing in goal, he would also occasionally feature outfield as a winger.
Wharton was an all-round sportsman - in 1886, he set a world record of 10 seconds for a 100 yard sprint in the AAA championship. He was also a keen cyclist and cricketer, playing for local teams in Yorkshire and Lancashire. After retiring from sport, he descended into destitution and alcoholism, spending the last 15 years of his life working at as a labourer in a Yorkshire colliery. He died penniless in 1930 and was buried in an unmarked grave in Edlington, South Yorkshire; his grave was given a headstone in 1997 after a campaign by anti-racism campaigners "Football Unites - Racism Divides" for recognition of Wharton's achievements.
Wharton never won a major medal (having moved from Preston before they completed their League and FA Cup "double" of 1889), nor an international cap.
In 2003 Wharton was inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame in recognition of his undoubted talents and the impact he made on the game.
[edit] Club career
- Darlington (1885 - 1886) (Semi-professional)
- Preston North End (1886 - 1888) (Semi-professional)
- Rotherham Town (1889 - 1894)
- Sheffield United (1894 - 1895)
- Stalybridge Celtic (1895 - 1897)
- Ashton North End (1897 - 1899)
- Stalybridge Celtic (1899 - 1901)
- Stockport County (1901 - 1902)
[edit] 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)
[edit] External links
Categories: 1865 births | 1930 deaths | Early (pre-1914) Association Football players | English footballers | Darlington F.C. players | Preston North End F.C. players | Rotherham United F.C. players | Sheffield United F.C. players | Stalybridge Celtic F.C. players | Stockport County F.C. players | Grenadian-English people
