Ethnicity and Football - Early Football (1880-1960)

Early Football (1880-1960)

In several countries, black players were often harassed by spectators; stories of players being pelted with racial slurs, chants, and even bananas were quite commonplace, in spite of the fact that there had been black players playing in Europe since the early days of football.

Andrew Watson, an amateur player, was capped for Scotland three times in the early 1880s, and played in the Scottish Cup for Queen's Park.Arthur Wharton, who played for Preston North End and Sheffield United, amongst others, is recognised as the world's first black professional footballer. Jack Leslie was the first black player to be selected for England, but never actually played for his country - a fact which is thought to be due to the colour of his skin.

Frank Soo was the first (and so far only) ethnic Chinese person to play for England, during the Second World War, though these were not official internationals. Other non-white footballers in Britain in the early and mid 20th century included Eddie Parris, a black Welsh international; Mohammed Abdul Salim, an Indian playing for Celtic; Tewfik Abdullah, an Egyptian who played for Derby County; the Jamaican Lindy Delapenha, who won a title with Portsmouth before moving to Middlesbrough; his countryman Gil Heron, who played for Celtic; and Charlie Williams, a British black defender for Doncaster Rovers who later became a successful entertainer.