We have speculated previously about the first time two black players appeared on the same pitch in a Football League match. We can dismiss a couple of the dates suggested in some books and in various corners of the internet:
18 September 1909 was not the date as some have claimed. Walter Tull appeared that day in the Tottenham Hotspur team that visited Bradford City’s Valley Parade ground, indeed Walter scored Spurs’ only goal in a 3-1 defeat. Willie Clark, Bradford City’s first black player, was on the payroll but he didn’t play against Spurs. His last game in City colours was on 21st November 1908, a game Bradford lost at Manchester United. He made no appearances for City during the 1909/10 season. Maybe he was at the ground watching but he certainly didn’t play.
26th January 1929 is another contender that has been touted. That was not the date either. There was speculation in the press in the build up to a 4th round FA Cup tie that Jack Leslie of Plymouth Argyle and Eddie Parris of Bradford Park Avenue might face each other. They didn’t because, although Jack played in the No.10 shirt for Plymouth, Eddie, for whatever reason, wasn’t in the Bradford team that day.
We can’t say for certain when that historic first game featuring black players on opposing teams was, but we are pretty confident that 24th August 1957 was the date when two black players played together in the same team for the first time and we have the programme from the game to support the claim!
The game in question was the opening fixture of the 1957/58 season and was played at Bournemouth’s Dean Court ground. The visitors were Watford and it was they, rather than the hosts, who were the history makers that day.
The notes that open the programme, presumably written by Bournemouth Manager, Freddie Cox, make no reference to the possible presence of any black players in either team but instead refer to the importance of the coming season because, at the end of it, the top twelve clubs would go into the newly formed 3rd Division for the 1958/59 season, while the bottom twelve would be consigned to the 4th.
When the season drew to a close, Plymouth actually finished 3rd but Watford were less successful, their 16th place finish meant they started the following season in Division 4 (League 2 in today’s terms).
So who were the players who made history?
Watford’s No.11 will be well known to followers of this site as it is none other than Tony Collins. When this game was played Tony was the first black player to play in the Football League for York City, Watford (in a previous spell with the club, this was a second stint having re-signed for them in July), Norwich and Torquay United, later in the season he would move to Crystal Palace where he became their first black player.
Playing at No.9 is Roy Brown. Roy has featured less frequently on this site (so far!) but his story can be read in the Stoke City chapter of Football’s Black Pioneers. We would love to find a programme for Roy’s Stoke debut but as it was in the 1946/47 season it may prove elusive and, if we do find one, likely to be prohibitively expensive as programmes from that era are rare. While Tony Collins was one of several new players in the Watford team, Roy was something of an old hand having joined them from Stoke in 1953.
Roy’s father was from Nigeria. Although the identity of Tony’s father has never been publicly acknowledged, Tony’s biography, co-authored by his daughter, Sarita, hints that his father was also Nigerian, so Roy and Tony probably had more in common than just being of mixed heritage. It is intriguing to speculate whether they talked about their respective backgrounds, but speculation is what it must remain as we are not aware of any interviews where either of them discussed their brief time together at Watford (Tony moved to Crystal Palace in November having played just 17 games, only 10 of which also featured Roy Brown).
It is also worth commenting on Watford’s No.8 in the line up at Bournemouth. Sammy Chung was also of mixed heritage, his father was Chinese. So, at a time when most teams had not yet fielded their first black player, Watford could boast a remarkably diverse team (Watford have a good track record in this respect, they fielded two players of Indian descent as far back as 1898 – Edwin and John Cother).
So, although the question of when two black players first appeared on the same pitch in a Football League (or FA Cup) game is not yet definitively answered, 24th August 1957 must be a very strong candidate.