The story of football trailblazer Arthur Wharton is a very fascinating one. Though his legacy and impact was for a very long time buried and relegated to the background, he certainly became a symbol of inspiration for young black footballers who wanted to be professionals in an era when that was almost always impossible.
Wharton was born in Jamestown, Gold Coast (now Ghana) on October 28, 1865, to Henry Wharton, a very well-known Methodist Missionary from Grenada and Annie Florence Egyriba, a royal of the Fante tribe in Ghana.
Arthur Wharton — Photo Credit: Antiques Roadshow/BNPS
From a very affluent family, Wharton was sent to England at the age of 19 to study to become a Missionary but ditched it to pursue his passion in sports, to be specific football, rugby, cricket and sprinting. Note that he equalled the Amateur Athletics Association (AAA) 100-yard sprint record of 60 seconds in 1886.