Pre-war memories (2 Viewers)

  • Thread starter Deleted member 5849
  • Start date
Forums New posts
D

Deleted member 5849

Guest
So there's a spot of nostalgia breaking out among the bickering, but I wondered if we had any stories from pre-war to share?

It's third generation memories but my Granddad used to watch the city in the 20s and 30s. Always used to say Plymouth(!) were the best team he saw, especially their black forward. Google allows me to find out their black forward (Jack Leslie) was the first black man to play football in England, and he lost out on an England cap once they found out his colour...

Another odd thing about Plymouth was the number of times they narrowly missed promotion. Now, rumours were that teams would often deliberately miss out. Why? Seems crazy you'd think... until you remember it was a time of a maximum wage... but you did get a win bonus. So, better to stay down and guarantee yourself a certain amount of win bonuses, than risk going up and ending up poorer for it.

So, plausible.

Plymouth as the best team a man ever saw though! Anyway, any other pre-war memories passed down?
 
S

Shakeitup

Well-Known Member
Nice story and memory. Shows the way football has changed from a social and money point of view.

However, I don't think that guy was the first black player. I remember seeing something in the Football museum in Manchester that Arthur Wharton was the first black footballer in England.
 
D

Deleted member 5849

Guest
Seems right. First regular league footballer then?

Google is sometimes not your friend...
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Calista

Calista

Well-Known Member
Growing up, I always thought Albert Johanneson was the first black player (he was very famous playing for Leeds United in the 1960s, including in the Cup Final) – however I have now been re-educated.

I’m afraid that’s the best contribution I can make to your pre-war thread NW – something post-war and largely irrelevant :)
 
C

Chipfat

Well-Known Member
Walter Tull was one of the earliest black pro's he played for Spurs and Northampton, he also became the 1st black officer in the British army. His story is very interesting but ultimately very sad, like many others he was killed in the battle of the Somme. If he would of survived the war he had agreed to sign for Rangers where no doubt he would of made another 1st.
 
Brylowes

Brylowes

Well-Known Member
Calista said:
Growing up, I always thought Albert Johanneson was the first black player (he was very famous playing for Leeds United in the 1960s, including in the Cup Final) – however I have now been re-educated.

I’m afraid that’s the best contribution I can make to your pre-war thread NW – something post-war and largely irrelevant :)
Click to expand...
Perhaps he was the 1st black player to grace the cup final. Just a guess.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Users who are viewing this thread

Total: 3 (members: 0, guests: 3)
Top