First Black Professional Player

A stunning mural of the world's first black professional footballer Arthur Wharton - who was also remarkably a record-breaking sprinter - was today unveiled in Darlington, the first club he played for. Wharton, who was born in Ghana in 1865 before moving to England and becoming a sporting icon, has now had his extraordinary achievements celebrated in the town where it all began after a Darlington resident campaigned for 12 years. Shaun Campbell finally fulfilled his mission to commemorate the life of Wharton as a mural of the pioneering sportsman, whose Ghanaian name, Kwame, comes from the day of the week he was born on, was unveiled on the side of a Darlington building that has been named 'The Arthur Wharton Foundation'.  Wharton immigrated to Darlington as a 19-year-old to train as a missionary, but soon abandoned those plans to pursue a career as an […]