In 1885, Arthur Wharton became the first player of African decent to play Association Football in England and the first black professional player in the world. An all-round sportsmen, Wharton was a keen cyclist, cricketer and sprinter, setting a world record of 10 seconds for a 100 yard sprint in 1886. Originally playing for Darlington he later signed for Preston North End. While a part of the famous 'Invincibles' side of the 1800's, Wharton left before winning any honours to concentrate on his running.
In 1978, Viv Anderson became the first black player to earn an England cap. Winner of two European Cups with Nottingham Forest, Anderson was called up by then England manager Ron Greenwood who stated: "Yellow, purple or black - if they're good enough, I'll pick them." Sandwiched between these to pioneers of football in England is Jack Leslie.
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| Real pioneers rock a moustache - Viv Anderson and the late Arthur Wharton |
Jack Leslie was born in Canning Town, London on the 17th of August 1901. Born to a Jamaican father, Leslie started his football career with his local side Barking Town. In 1921 the inside left signed for Plymouth Argyle but at the time you could count the number of black professional players on one hand. As a result of this and attitudes of the time Leslie was subjected to unforgivable racial abuse. He later recalled - "I used to get a lot of abuse in matches. 'Here darkie, I'm gonna break your leg,' they'd shout. There was nothing wicked about it - they were just trying to get under my skin." Despite this Leslie had an incredible career for the Pilgrims; he made a total of 401 appearances for the club scoring 136 goals. During his time with the club Argyle finished runners up in the Football League Third Division South, 6 times (1921–22, 1922–23, 1923–24, 1924–25, 1925–26, 1926–27), eventually winning it in the 1929-30 season. Leslie and Plymouth would also play against the likes of Manchester United and Arsenal, the latter of which was a fourth round FA Cup tie in January 1932. The game drew a record crowd of 65,386 to Highbury and Leslie scored Argyles second goal in a 4-2 defeat to Herbert Chapman's famous side. Between 1927 and 1929 Leslie held the record for most league goals scored (35), but it appeared that the best was to come.
During the 1930's legendary Argyle manager Bob Jack informed Leslie that he had received the call to play for his country. In an interview with the Daily Mail in 1978 Leslie told them - "One day, a Tuesday, as I remember it, the manager calls me in. 'Johnnie' he says, 'I've got great news for you. You've been picked for England.' It was quite a thing for a little club like Plymouth to have a man called up. Then the papers came out a day or so later and Billy Walker of Aston Villa was in the team, not me."
The reason for his exclusion came from FA officials who claimed that they had not known Leslie to be 'a man of colour'. Later, Leslie surmised - "They found out I was a darkie and I suppose that was like finding out I was foreign." His daughter, Evelyn, told the BBC of her fathers disappointment - "It would have been the icing on the cake, but it was taken away from him. He had a lot of disappointments because of his colour."
Not long after the invitation was withdrawn Leslie famously told journalist Brian Woolnough: "They must have forgot I was a coloured boy."
Jack Leslie retired from professional football in 1934. He later went on to be a member of the backroom staff at his local club: West Ham United. He passed away in 1988 but will live long in the memory of not only Plymouth Argyle fans, but football fans everywhere.
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| Jack Leslie |
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