Arthur Wharton is widely considered to be the first black professional footballer in the world.
10 Facts About Arthur Wharton
2.
Arthur Wharton's father Henry Wharton was a Grenadian missionary of Scottish and African descent, while his mother, Annie Florence Egyriba was a member of the Fante Ghanaian royalty.
3.
Arthur Wharton moved to England in 1882 at age 19, to train as a Methodist missionary, but soon abandoned this in favour of becoming a full-time athlete.
4.
Arthur Wharton was a keen cyclist and cricketer, playing for local teams in Yorkshire and Lancashire.
5.
Arthur Wharton started as an amateur playing as a goalkeeper for Darlington, where he was spotted by Preston North End after playing against them.
6.
Arthur Wharton did have a connection to Sheffield Wednesday, through his trainer in Sheffield 'Billy' South, who amongst other noted Sheffield sporting icons of the day trained Wednesday's Tommy Crawshaw.
7.
When World War I began in 1914 Arthur Wharton joined the Volunteer Training Corps, volunteering to give his life in defence of Britain if called upon.
8.
In 2003 Arthur Wharton was inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame in recognition of the impact he made on the game.
9.
In 2012, a small statue of Arthur Wharton was presented to Sepp Blatter at the headquarters of FIFA, where it will be on permanent display.
10.
On 16 October 2014, a statue honouring Arthur Wharton was unveiled at St George's Park National Football Centre.