Space limitations meant that there are many great stories we weren’t able to include in ‘Football’s Black Pioneers’. One such story concerns Albert Charles Payne who made his debut for Tranmere Rovers on 31st August 1946. Before you ask, no, the picture above is not of Albert!
Albert was born in Liverpool on 11th November 1923, the son of Albert Ernest Payne and Lily May Payne (nee Tranter). So, what is the connection between Tranmere’s first black player and the distinguished looking gentleman in the picture?
On 1st November 1853, on the Caribbean island of Barbados, Joseph Stanley Payne (pictured above) was born. As a young man Joseph took to the sea and, as so many seamen did, eventually made Liverpool his home port. It was here that he married a local white girl, Sarah Ann Mansfield, in 1880. On 28th June 1884 Joseph and Sarah had a son, Albert Ernest, who joined the growing ranks of Liverpool’s mixed heritage community.
On 12th February 1920, Albert Ernest married Lilian May Tranter and Tranmere’s first black player was born three years later.
Albert Charles Payne made only ten appearances in the Football League (more than enough to earn him a place in ‘Football’s Black Pioneers’), but his cousin, George Payne, made a total of 467 between the sticks for Rovers in a career that started in 1947 and ended in 1961. We don’t have a photo of Albert in his playing days but his cousin George is seen here (back row, third from the left).
You may think that George ‘doesn’t look black’but he and Albert were directly descended from the man pictured at the top of the page, he was their grandfather. This illustrates the point that the black contribution to British history is not always readily apparent, all the more reason to explore this hidden history.
There is a longer article on our sister site that considers this issue: http://historycalroots.com/archives/2849