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Arthur Wharton (1865 - 1930) was the first black
professional football (soccer)|football player in
England. Wharton was born in Jamestown,
Ghana|Jamestown, Gold Coast (British colony)|Gold
Coast (now Accra, Ghana), his father was
half-Grenada|Grenadian and half-Scotland|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 a semi-professional playing as
a goalkeeper for Darlington F.C.|Darlington, and
then Preston North End F.C.|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 United
F.C.|Rotherham United in 1889 playing as a
goalkeeper. He would later play several games for
Sheffield United F.C.|Sheffield United, though he
was overshadowed (perhaps in more than one way) by
William Foulke (footballer)|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 Amateur Athletics Association|AAA
championship. He was also a keen cycling|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 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 England national
football team|England cap. Another black player,
Andrew Watson, pre-dates Wharton by 11 years,
however football at that time was only played in
an amateur capacity. 

==Club career==
*Darlington F.C.|Darlington (1885 - 1886)
(Semi-professional)
*Preston North End F.C.|Preston North End (1886 -
1888) (Semi-professional)
*Rotherham United F.C.|Rotherham United (1889 -
1894)
*Sheffield United F.C.|Sheffield United (1894 -
1895)
*Stalybridge Celtic F.C.|Stalybridge Celtic (1895
- 1897)
*Ashton North End F.C.|Ashton North End (1897 -
1899)
*Stalybridge Celtic (1899 - 1901)
*Stockport County F.C.|Stockport County (1901 -
1902)

==Further reading==
*Phil Vasili, The First Black Footballer, Arthur
Wharton, 1865-1930: an absence of memory (ISBN
0714649031) 

==External links==
* http://www.furd.org/arthurwharton.asp Football
Unites, Racism Divides
* http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A752410 BBC h2g2
entry