Arthur Wharton is far from being a household name but his fans say his name should be shouted from the rafters. More than a century ago he was the outstanding sportsman of his generation: a world-record-breaking runner, a superb cricketer and England’s first black professional footballer.
“He was a trailblazer, an inspiration,” said the former Chelsea player Ken Monkou. “We follow in his footsteps … [without him] there wouldn’t be a Usain Bolt, there wouldn’t be me, John Barnes and Brendon Batson. He laid the foundation. He put the crumbs out.”
Wharton was celebrated on Thursday by the town of Rotherham, whose football team he joined as a professional in 1889.
A plaque organised by Rotherham Civic Society celebrating his life and career was unveiled by Wharton supporters including Monkou and another former Chelsea player, David Speedie.
It was unveiled at Rotherham Titans rugby club, the home of Rotherham Town football club when Wharton played, 134 years to the day after he played his first game for them.
Shaun Campbell, of the Arthur Wharton Foundation, said his story should be more widely known and welcomed the plaque. “You’ve got the greatest all-round sportsman the world has ever seen and he was here in Rotherham. Don’t let him slip through your fingers.”
Monkou said Wharton’s achievements were just ridiculous. “Forget about his race, what he achieved as a person, as a professional footballer, athlete, cricket player … you could not make it up.”
The hope is that the plaque will help kickstart new interest in Wharton and his story.
And what a story. Wharton, the son of missionaries, was born in Ghana in 1866. He arrived in Darlington to study at a Wesleyan college as a teenager in 1883, probably with the intention of following in his parents’ footsteps.
He was a tremendous athlete and soon discovered running was more lucrative than studying.
The young, insanely fast Wharton won several competitions in the north of England and the Midlands before entering the national championships at Stamford Bridge in London.
It was here that Wharton became the first runner in the world to run 100 yards in 10 seconds flat at a championship.
Further wins came and Wharton was becoming a star, which made him both famous and envied. At one meeting he overheard other athletes using racist language, to which he reputedly walked over and said: “I’ll give you to understand that I can box as well as run.” They quickly shut up.
Two years later he turned professional and moved to Sheffield, the centre of professional running and gambling.
The Nottingham Football News in 1892 referred to Wharton as having a “meteor-like” career in running. One of his races in 1889 was for prize money that would have been £16,000 today.
There was a growing problem, however, in that professional running was handicapped and Wharton was an inevitable back-starter.
This led Wharton to use another of his sporting skills, becoming England’s first full-time black professional footballer in 1889 when he signed for Rotherham Town as a forward, scoring, according to one account, a hat-trick in his first game.
After an injury to another player he took over as goalkeeper, playing in a famous match against Preston North End, arguably the best team of the day.
Wharton needed to supplement his football income and worked as a publican, running two pubs in the town.
Peter Feek, of Rotherham Civic Society, said Wharton was enormously popular in the town and displayed his athleticism and versatility by also playing cricket for a number of teams. The South Yorkshire Times said of him: “When he is in the humour he hits hard, high and often.”
After sport Wharton went down the mines, taking a job at Edlington pit near Doncaster.
He died in poverty in 1930 and was buried in an unmarked grave until the Darlington-based Arthur Wharton Foundation provided a headstone in 1997.
Today, Wharton’s grave is regularly tended by Speedie, who also played for Darlington and worked as a miner.
He only heard about Wharton three years ago and was blown away by his story.
It resonated to such an extent that Speedie continues to keep an eye on his grave and lays flowers, which he did on Thursday morning.
“I remember the first time I went to his grave, it was an emotional experience. If you think about it, at the time he was just a normal guy, but what a player. If he had been playing today he’d be being paid a fortune and worth £100m.”
