Walter Tull

Sport, Football, pic: circa 1910, Walter Tull, born in Folkestone, Kent in 1888, the first outfield black footballer in Britain, He was born to mixed race parentage but was to spend his childhood in an orphanage, He played football for Clapton and was spotted by Tottenham Hotspur in 1909, whilst playing for Tottenham he was to experience severe racial abuse in a game at Bristol against Bristol City in 1909, He played as a striker at "Spurs" but was not considered quick enough and was transferred to Northampton Town in 1911, where he played until the outbreak of World War I, On the outbreak of war he joined the Middlesex regiment and played in a division made up of footballers, Despite the strict military rules forbidding black officers he was commisioned in May 1917 and became the first black officer, Sadly 2nd Lieutenant Tull was killed in action at the 2nd Battle of the Somme, his body never being found, A memorial to him can be found at Northampton F,C,'s Sixfield Stadium (Photo by Bob Thomas/Popperfoto via Getty Images/Getty Images)