The image of John Barnes back-heeling a banana demonstrated one of the ugliest sides of football. Over the past twenty years nearly all black players have had to face racial abuse of some sort, but what must it have been like to be the first black professional footballer?
Arthur Wharton, who played in goal for Sheffield United, Preston, Darlington, Rotherham, Stockport and Stalybridge Rovers, was the man who took this title. Wharton, who was of Euro-African descent, entered professional football in 1889 with Preston North End. The tall Ghanaian, who came from a middle class background, was a powerful presence between the sticks in the days when goalkeepers received no protection whatsoever.
Undoubtedly he was a victim of racial abuse, but the fact he was worshipped wherever he played demonstrates the positive effect he had on the fans, at a time when it was widely thought blacks were inferior. Wharton was a real entertainer, who put Bruce Grobbelaar's antics to shame by catching the ball between his knees whilst hanging from the cross bar!
Football was not the only sport Arthur excelled in, he also played professional cricket, was a top racing cyclist and boxer, and he won the AAA 100 yards final in 1886, setting a world record time of 10 seconds in the process.
After his sporting career ended Wharton found life outside of the limelight hard, and he eventually died in poverty working as a coalminer in 1930. Unfortunately, he lay in an unmarked grave for 67 years, his sporting achievements erased from history. This situation was rectified by Football Unites-Racism Divides who placed a gravestone on his plot, and commissioned a book to document his rightful place in football's history as the first trail blazing daddy.
