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Tribute to first black professional footballer

Mon, 28 Oct 2002 Source:  

An exhibition about the world's first professional black footballer is opening at a South Yorkshire museum.

In a League of His Own at Doncaster Museum is about Ghana-born Arthur Wharton.

He played with Preston North End in the mid 1880s before moving to play with Doncaster Rovers, Rotherham and Sheffield United.

He was an outstanding sportsman who broke the world amateur athletics sprint record when he ran 100 yards in 10 seconds.

Wharton also played professional cricket but spent the last 15 years of his life working as a coal haulage hand at Yorkshire Main Colliery near Doncaster.

He died in 1930 and was buried in an unmarked grave, but in 1997 the Football Unites, Racism Divides project erected a headstone.

The Yorkshire Post says the six-month exhibition coincides with Kick Racism Out of Football Week and Black History month.

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