Mother africa has produced some of the greatest footballers the beautiful game has ever seen with such greats as pele, eusebio and jairzinho back in the 50s, 60s and 70s. In recent times weve had fantastic players such as lawrie cunningham, tigana, gullit and weah with contemporary class acts such as zidane, henry, eto,,drogba, balotelli and neymar all making significant contributions in some way shape or form in the modern game. There can only be one man who stands out amongst his peers and beneficiaries as an african legend and this unassuming distinction belongs too a certain inconspicuous mr arthur wharton. Arthur wharton made his way into england in 1882 as a trainee methodist missionary from ghana who subsequently became the first top flight professional black player. Mr wharton signed initially for rotherham and then was transfered to south yorkshire rivals sheffield united where coincidentally two local figures one a lawyer and the other a wine merchant drafted and introduced the modern rulebook only a few years earlier in the same city. Arthur was a keen cricketer and a suberb athlete who could run the 100 yard sprint in 10 seconds, that was an extraordinary achievement for those days when training and sporting knowledge in general was in its infancy. I cant imagine the division and intolerance that this man and men like him had to go through especially as the abolishment of slavery hadnt even bedded in its freedom amongst the prejudiced. We talk about football unites and racism divides well this man truly understood the meaning of racism that followed and plagued him but it didnt affect or detract from his capabilities and achievements. A humble man who traversed the path of trial and tribulation and made it through the door of success under extreme circumstances yet so little is known of this footballing giant and pioneer. The true and moral footballing hall of fames number one spot goes to the unknown arthur wharton and deservedly so for if we could just use his example in football then football would certainly be in a better place than where it is now. We the footballing family salute this man and his silent story for if were truly to be a footballing family then always study the past as we look forward while developing our skills for future generations. Little did arthur know he was laying a foundation upon the green turf so that other black players would be accepted on the field of play and how far weve come in over 100 years,what a man, what a story and what a legacy. For arthur. FORZA CALCIO
Posted on: Wed, 30 Jul 2014 00:39:51 +0000
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