Domingos da Guia

A skillful and authoritative defender,  Domingada has the distinction of having won major honours in 3 countries. Beginning his career at Bangu as a 17 year old he later joined Vasco da Gama. Having won the Uruguayan Championship with Nacional in 1933, he returned to Vasco, who won the 1934 (LCF) Campeonato Carioca. 1935 saw  Domingos helping Boca Juniors to the Argentinian championship. 

Domingos returned to Brazil in 1936 and had spells with Flamengo and Corinthians before returning to Bangu. His career lasted until 1950. 

He was capped 30 times for Brazil, his debut coming in 1931.

Associação Atlética Ponte Preta

Ponte Preta was founded by students at the Colégio Culto à Ciência in Campinas. 
Two things stand out from the team group above- the distinctive neckties and the ethnic diversity of the players. 
When club founder Miguel do Carmo played for Ponte Preta in 1900 ( their inaugural season) he became the first black player in organised football in Brazil. The club nickname Macaca reflects the racism that they encountered in the early days. 
Ponte Preta are the second oldest active club in Brazil. 

Eddie Parris

After Andrew Watson's final appearance for Scotland in 1882 it was another 49 years before a black player appeared for one of the British national sides.
Eddie Parris played for Wales in a 4-0 defeat against Ireland in Belfast on 05.12.1931. It was his only international appearance.
Bradford Park Avenue signed winger Parris as a 17 year old from his local club Chepstow Town in 1928. Parris was born in Monmouthshire; his father was Jamaican (possibly born in Canada).
He later joined Bournemouth (summer 1934), Luton Town (February 1937) and Northampton Town (November 1937).

Jack Leslie

...known throughout England for his skill and complexion.
The Herald (1930)

They must have forgotten I was a coloured boy. They found out I was a darkie and I suppose that was like finding out I was foreign.
Jack Leslie

In the 1920s manager  Bob Jack  assembled a potent team at Plymouth Argyle.  Argyle finished second in the Third Division (South) for 6 seasons in a row,eventually making it into the Second Division for the 1930–31 season. A key member of the team was Jack Leslie, a Londoner of Jamaican descent. Leslie was at Argyle, his only senior  club, from 1921–1935. During this time he scored 137 goals in 401 appearances.

Bob Jack was informed by the Football Association that Leslie had been selected for England. The FA then decided that Leslie wouldn't be capped after all, as he was (as they put it) a man of colour. 
Shame on the Football Association.

Excursão do Vasco da Gama a Europa em 1931

Vasco sail to Europe

In the northern hemisphere summer of 1931, Vasco da Gama became the first Rio club (and the second from 

Brazil) to travel to Europe. Under the management of former  Liverpool player Harry Welfare,  Vasco recruited the assistance of players from Botafogo (Nilo, Carvalho Leite and Benedito) and Fluminense (Fernando) for the 12 match tour of Portugal and Spain.

26.06.31	Barcelona	3	2	Vasco da Gama
28.06.31	Barcelona	1	2	Vasco da Gama
05.07.31	Celta	2	1	Vasco da Gama
07.07.31	Celta	1	7	Vasco da Gama
10.07.31	Benfica	0	5	Vasco da Gama
15.07.31	Lisbon Select	2	4	Vasco da Gama
19.07.31	Porto	1	3	Vasco da Gama
22.07.31	Varzim/ Boavista	2	9	Vasco da Gama
24.07.31	Ovarense	2	6	Vasco da Gama
26.07.31	Porto	2	1	Vasco da Gama
30.07.31	Vitória C Lisboa	1	1	Vasco da Gama
02.08.31	Sporting	1	4	Vasco da Gama

P	W	D	L	F	A
12	8	1	3	45	18

Squad:

Jaguaré, Valdemar, Brilhante, Nesi, Italia, Tinoco, Fausto, Mola, Bahianinho, Nilo, Carvalho Leite, Russinho, Mário Matos, Benedicto, Santana, Fernando, Rainha, Ghizone

Manager/coach: Harry Welfare.

Goals:
13	Russinho
8	Nilo
7	Carvalho Leite
3	Bahianinho, Mário Matos, Benedito ,Tinoco
2	Santana
1	Ghizone,  Fernando, og

Aside from Harry Welfare and Russinho there were a few other figures of note involved on the tour:

Jaguaré Bezerra de Vasconcelos 

Jaguaré was stevedore at the port of Rio. A typically eccentric goalkeeper, he delighted crowds but angered opponents and officials with his antics- throwing the ball at the heads of opponents, shouting 'chuta!' to strikers as they bore down on him, catching the ball acrobatically, and even using a bicycle kick to clear his lines. He was known as Dengoso or Araña Negra (The Black Spider). 

Jaguaré was offered a lucrative contract (and Spanish citizenship) by Barcelona. Jaguaré declined the offer and returned to Brazil, joining Corinthians. In 1935 however he set out for Italy with Fernando (see below). They decided to avoid Italy due to that country's invasion of Abyssinia, and Jaguaré joined Sporting Lisbon. In 1936 he joined Olympique Marseille, with whom he enjoyed success and cult status. 

Having returned to Brazil Jaguaré met a sad end. He died aged 41 after getting into a scrape with the cops (he hit his head).

Fernando Rubens Pasi Giudicelli

Fluminense's Fernando, who wore a sailor's cap on the pitch, played in the 1930 World Cup . After the tour he stayed in Europe, joining Torino. In Italy he was considered an oriundo. In 1933 Fernando returned to Rio and was actively involved in recruiting South American players to join European clubs. 
Fernando himself returned to Europe and played for Sportclub Young Fellows Juventus Zurich (1933-34),  Bordeaux (1934-35), Sporting Lisbon (1935), Real Madrid (1935) and Antibes (1935-37).

Fausto dos Santos 

Fausto  was another veteran of the 1930 World Cup who tried his luck in Europe. He also declined an offer from Barcelona, but later played with Sportclub Young Fellows Juventus Zurich (1933).  He was a halfback who delighted in the nickname Maravilha Negra.
Fausto died of Tubercerlosis aged 34.

When thinking of the lucrative professional contracts that these men were offered in Europe it is worth remembering that at the time football in Brazil was an amateur sport.

The other John Walker...

The death is announced of John Walker, the well-known coloured football player residing in Leith. He was better known as “Darkey” Walker, and is believed to have been the only professional football player of colour in Scotland. Walker, on joining Leith Athletic three years ago, gave promise of developing into a class player, his tricky play and dashing runs establishing him a warm favourite. The Heart of Midlothian entered into negotiations for his transfer, which was effected for the sum of £50. After playing for the Hearts for a season, the Tynecastle club gave Walker his papers, and at the beginning of last season he joined Lincoln City. He did not remain long with the English club, and returned home six months ago in ill-health. Consumption was the cause of death.
The Dundee Courier, (07.08.1900)

John Walker was the first black professional footballer in Scotland, and the first black professional to play in both the Scottish League and the Football League. His appearance in first class football was brief. He was an outside left noted for his pace and ball skill.
In 1898 he joined Leith Athletic from Leith Primrose.
Later that year he joined Heart of Midlothian.
Here is John Walker's record for Hearts. 3 league matches, no goals:

29.10.98 Hibernian (a) w 1-5
05.11.98 St Bernard's (h) w 3-1
12.11.98  Third Lanark (h) w 2-1

There is some speculation over whether Lincoln thought they had signed  the Scottish international John Walker, a Hearts team mate, rather than John 'Darkey' Walker. 
Walker's career with Lincoln was unspectacular. 6 Division 2 matches. No goals:

02.09.99 Middlesbrough (h) w 3-0
09.09.99 Chesterfield (a) d 2-2
07.10.99 Newton Heath (a) l 1-0
14.10.99 The Wednesday (h) l 1-2
04.11.99 New Brighton Tower (h) d 0-0
11.11.99 Grimsby Town (a) l 5-2


On leaving Lincoln Walker, who was having problems with his health, returned to Leith. Walker was 22 when he died, either of tuberculosis or pneumonia, in August 1900.

Looking for evidence about Walker, particularly his origins, I found that other on-line historians had not been able to establish many facts. There was speculation over his  birthplace. Leith was a port, and ports were more likely to have black inhabitants in Victorian Britain than other areas. One lead I did find online was that John's parents' names were John and Sarah.
According to the 1891 census (accessed via ancestry.com)  there were a John and Sarah Walker living at 8, Cable Wynd, Leith. They had 2 sons, the elder being John (b 1877).
John Walker senior's place of birth is given as 'Naturalvjed, Spain' (I took this to represent 'naturalized'). 
Moving back in time to the 1881 census, John Walker senior is identified as a Dock Labourer and his place of birth as India, West (!)- surely the West Indies.
It doesn't require a great leap of the imagination to come up with Port of Spain. This is pure speculation on my part. One thing that these census records do tell us , however, is that John Walker junior was born in Leith. 

Francisco Carregal

Bangu Atlético Clube was formed in 1904 by employees of the Companhia Progresso Industrial do Brasil Textiles Factory in Bangu,  Rio de Janeiro. Early sides featured a combination of Englishmen, Italians, Portuguese and Brazilians.
 Francisco Carregal, a weaver at the factory,is often cited as being the first black player in senior football in Brazil.

Raoul Diagne

 Raoul Diagne's father was from Senegal, an eminent politician who became the fist black member of the French Chamber of Deputies
Born in French  Guiana, Diagne played 18 internationals for France from 1931-1940. He was the first African to play for France.  He spent ten seasons (1930–1940) with Racing Club Paris, winning the league and cup double in 1936.
In later life Diagne managed the Senegal national side.

Walter Tull

Born in Kent of a Barbadian father and an English mother, Walter Tull played 20 first team matches for Tottenham Hotspur  between 1909 and 1911.He also toured South America with them. In 1911 Herbert Chapman signed him for Northampton Town. He played 111 games for Northampton up until the outbreak of the war in 1914.
During the First World War Tull served with the Footballers' Battalions of the Middlesex Regiment. When he was promoted from the ranks in 1917 Tull became the first black/ mixed race officer in the British army. He was killed in action in 1918.

Through his actions, Tull ridiculed the barriers of ignorance that tried to deny negroes/mulattos equality with their contemporaries. His life stands testament to a determination to confront those people and those obstacles that sought to diminish him and the world in which he lived. It reveals a man, though rendered breathless in his prime, whose strong heart still beats loudly.
Tull's epitaph: Phil Vasili 

¡oh jugador maravilloso!

 Isabelino Gradín

Juan Delgado

On July 2nd 1916 the first ever match of the Copa America (South American Championship of Nations) was played in Buenos Aires. Uruguay (the eventual winners) defeated Chile 4-0.

Penarol's Isabelino Gradín scored two of the goals. Following the game Chile appealed for the result to be scratched as Uruguay had fielded 'African' players. Desperation or ignorance? Both Gradin and his teammate Juan Delgado were Uruguay born, and were the forerunners of a succession of black players to wear the celestial blue.

Arthur Wharton

Arthur Wharton was born in The Gold Coast (Ghana). He was educated in London and then moved to Grenada in the West Indies. At the age of 17 he returned to England to train as a missionary teacher. However he soon abandoned this in favour of following a career in sport. He was an accomplished cricketer, cyclist and sprinter (a World record holder with 100 yards in 10 seconds in 1886).

Unusually for a sprinter, Wharton was primarily a goalkeeper, although he did also play on the wing.

He was on the books at Darlington and Preston North End as an amateur between 1885 and 1888. Though he never commanded a regular first team place he did play in the FA Cup semi final for Preston. After taking a break from football to focus on sprinting, he joined Rotherham Town as a professional in 1889. He became the first black/ mixed race player to play in the First Division when he was with Sheffield United in the 1894-95 season. After spells with Stalybridge Rovers (he also coached Rovers,signing Herbert Chapman in 1896) and  Ashton North End he ended his career with Stockport County.

During his playing career Wharton had also been a pub landlord. Sadly he died  a destitute alcoholic in 1930.

South Africa

The British spread football across the world with a missionary zeal, and it is not uncommon to find the first reference to football in any given country involving English (therefore British) sailors, soldiers or civilian expatriates.
Strangely though, none of the countries of the British Empire (as it was during the period that we are looking at)  have adopted football as their main sport. Cricket, along with Rugby, are the sports at which most of the former colonies have excelled. It is worth noting, however, that football was played on an organised basis in many of these countries, and often at an early date.
Prior to the formation of the Union of South Africa in 1910 the Southern part of Africa consisted of  separate colonies-the Cape, Natal, Transvaal and the Orange River Colony.
In 1910 South Africa became FIFA's first non-European member.

Here is a timeline of the development and organization of the game in Southern Africa:
Younger readers please note- all organizations, clubs etc were exclusively for White people unless otherwise stated.

Football arrived in Southern Africa (courtesy of British soldiers and Civil servants) in the pre -association days, with the first documented matches being played in Cape town and Port Elizabeth as early as 1862.
1879 - Pietermaritzburg County Football Club (for Whites-only) is established.
1880 -  Durban and Johannesburg see the formation of football clubs for non-whites.
1882 -  Foundation of the Natal Football Association (for Whites-only), The league featured four clubs,   Pietermaritzburg County, Natal Wasps, Durban Alpha and Umgeni Stars. By the following year, the league had expanded to ten clubs.
1883- The Natal Challenge Cup first completed- Natal Wasps FC  (Durban) win the first four editions.
1889 - The Transvaal Challenge Cup is introduced, Wanderers Wasps (Johannesburg) winning the first title.
1890-  The Durban Charity Cup comes into being.
1890 - The Griqualand West FA  formed.
1891 - Western Province FA formed. Royal Artillery wins the first three editions of the Senior League (Western Province competitions were dominated by military sides)
1892 -  The South African Football Association (later known as FASA) is formed. It is a White only organization.
1893 - Griqualand West introduce aSenior League competition, Kimberley Senior League Challenge Cup. Kenilworth Kimberley are the first champions.
1893 -Western Province FA introduce the  O'Reilly Cup. Royal Artillery are the first winners.
1894- The Frontier Challenge Shield is first contested in the province of Border. It is won by  Queen's Park FC (King Williamstown). 
1895- The first  Orange Free State Challenge Cup  is won by Heilbron FC.
1896- In the  Orange Free State the  Bloemfontein Senior League is first contested, with Rangers FC (Bloemfontein) as champions.
1896 - Transvaal Indian Football Association is formed.
1897 - First  Corinthians (England) tour.
1898 - The West Griqualand Challenge Cup comes into being

1898  - The Orange Free State Bantu Football Club (A.k.a Orange Free State Kaffir Football Club) is the first South African team to play in Europe, a 49-match tour of England, France, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. article here: http://eprints.aston.ac.uk/16771/1/The_1899_Orange_Free_State_Football_Team_Tour.pdf

1899- Rangers FC (East London) win the first season of the East London Senior League.
1899 - Eastern Province- Caledonians (East London) win the first Port Elizabeth Senior League title.

1902- The South African Indian Football Association (SAIFA) is founded in Kimberley, where a national competition for Indians — the Sam China Cup — is held.

1903 - Second Corinthians (England) tour.

1906 - South Africa tours South America. They play 11 games against decent opposition - Argentine clubs Alumni, Belgrano, Quilmes, and representative sides of Argentinian and Uruguayan leagues as well a s team of British players based in Argentina. They are beaten only once (by Alumni) and have a 54 for 7 against goal ratio.

One member of the touring party, English born Héctor Henman  stayed in Argentina, where he joining Buenos Aires top club Alumni AC. Henman played for Argentina against Uruguay later that year.

1907 - Third Corinthians (England) tour.

1910 - The South African Football Association joins FIFA, the first association from outside of Europe to do so.

1910 -The  Football Association sends an amateur representative side to tour South Africa. In games against South Africa national representative team the English won: in Durban on June 29 (3-0), in Johannesburg on July 23 (6-2), and in Cape Town on July 30 (6-3).

1916 - The Durban & District Native Football Association is established. 

1920 -The  Football Association sends an amateur representative side to tour South Africa .

1924- South Africa side tours Britain .Details here: http://thehamlethistorian.blogspot.co.uk/2010/05/south-african-football-teams-1924-tour.html
1929- Football Association tour South Africa .
1929 -The Johannesburg Bantu Football Association is founded.
1931-Motherwell first  tour of South Africa.
1932 -The South African African Football Association (SAAFA) is formed and it launches the Bakers Cup national tournament.
1933- The South African Bantu Football Association (SABFA) and the South African Coloured Football Association (SACFA) are formed.
1934 -Motherwell second tour.
1935 -The Transvaal Inter-Race Soccer Board is formed by Africans, Indians, and 'Coloureds'.
1935 -The Suzman Cup, the first official inter-racial tournament between Africans, Coloureds, and Indians, is established 
1936 - The Godfrey South African Challenge Cup is established 

Andrew Watson, Scotland 1881

In 1881 Andrew Watson of Scotland became the first black international footballer. 
Born in British Guiana, the son of a Scottish sugar plantation owner and a Guianan woman, he studied at the University of Glasgow. 
Watson's three internationals were resounding successes for Scotland. In 1881 England were beaten 6-1 at the Oval and Wales were beaten 5-1 at Acton Park. The following season Scotland beat England 5-1 in  Glasgow.
Watson was a full back, and played most of his football for Queen's Park, although he did have spells with London Swifts and Corinthians whilst living in England. When playing for Swifts he became the first black player to play in the  FA Cup (1882).

El Tigre - Arthur Friedenreich

...esse bailarino mulato de olhos verdes, cabelos alisados e pés magicos. This dancing mulatto with green eyes, straightened hair and magic feet...

Carlos Maranhão

Arthur Friedenreich  was mixed race (Afican-Brazilian and German) , at a time when Brazilian football (and society) was essentially racially segregated.  This obstacle to progress did not prevent him from becoming Brazil's first football superstar,
He had his father's eyes- green, and his mother's African hair- which he resorted to straightening using wax.
He was also very skinny- only 52 kg at 1,75 m. 
In a 26 year first class career he is reckoned , according to some accounts, to have scored 1239 goals in 1329 games.  Friedenreich made 23 appearances for the Seleção between 1914 and 1925, netting ten goals. 
His finest hour (2 and a half hours in fact)* came in the 1919 Copa America (known then as the 
South American Championship) , Brazil's first triumph and the first Copa America played in Rio.
 The boot with which he scored the winning goal in the final against Uruguay was paraded around the city on a pole with a banner proclaiming The glorious foot of Friedenreich. The boot was later displayed  in jewellers' shop windows across Rio.

*Four extra times of 15 minutes each were played.150 minutes in total. Friedenreich scored the winner in the 122nd minute.

122'