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Walter Tull
Walter Daniel John Tull (28 April 1888 – 25 March 1918) was an English professional footballer and British Army officer of Afro-Caribbean descent. He played as an inside forward and half back for Clapton, Tottenham Hotspur and Northampton Town and was the third person of mixed heritage to play in the top division of the Football League after Arthur Wharton and Willie Clarke. He was also the first player of African descent to sign for Rangers in 1917, while stationed in Scotland.
During the First World War, Tull served in the Middlesex Regiment, including in the two Footballers' Battalions. He was commissioned as a second lieutenant on 30 May 1917 and killed in action on 25 March 1918.
Walter Daniel John Tull was born in Folkestone, Kent, the son of Barbadian carpenter Daniel Tull and Kent-born Alice Elizabeth Palmer. His paternal grandfather was a slave in Barbados. His maternal English grandmother was from Kent. He began his education at North Board School, now Mundella Primary School, Folkestone.
In 1895, when Tull was seven, his mother died of cancer. A year later, his father married Alice's cousin, Clara Palmer. She gave birth to a daughter, Miriam, on 11 September 1897. Three months later, Daniel died from heart disease. The stepmother was unable to cope with five children, so the resident minister of Folkestone's Grace Hill Wesleyan Chapel recommended that the two boys of school age, Walter and Edward, should be sent to an orphanage. From the age of nine, Tull was brought up in the Methodist Children's Home and Orphanage (now known as Action for Children) in Bethnal Green, London. Edward was adopted by the Warnock family of Glasgow, becoming Edward Tull-Warnock; he qualified as a dentist, the first mixed-heritage person to practise this profession in the United Kingdom.
Tull's professional football career began after he was spotted playing for top amateur club Clapton. He had signed for Clapton in October 1908, reportedly never playing in a losing side. By the end of the season he had won winners' medals in the FA Amateur Cup, London County Amateur Cup and the London Senior Cup. In March 1909, the Football Star called him "the catch of the season". At Clapton, he played alongside Clyde Purnell and Charlie Rance.
At the age of 21, Tull signed for Football League First Division team Tottenham Hotspur in the summer of 1909 after a close-season tour of Argentina and Uruguay, making him the first mixed-heritage professional footballer to play in Latin America. Tull made his debut for Tottenham in September 1909 in the position of inside forward against Sunderland and his home Football League debut against FA Cup-holders, Manchester United, in front of more than 30,000. His excellent form in this opening part of the season promised a great future. Tull made only 10 first-team appearances, scoring twice, before he was dropped to the reserves. This may have been due to the racial abuse he received from opposing fans, particularly at Bristol City, whose supporters used language "lower than Billingsgate", according to a report at the time in the Football Star newspaper. The match report of the game away to Bristol City in October 1909 by Football Star reporter, "DD", was headlined "Football and the Colour Prejudice", possibly the first time racial abuse was headlined in a football report. "DD" emphasised how Tull remained professional and composed despite the intense provocation: "He is Hotspur's most brainy forward ... so clean in mind and method as to be a model for all white men who play football ... Tull was the best forward on the field." However, soon after, Tull was dropped from the first team and found it difficult to get a sustained run back in the side. Goodwin writes in The Spurs Alphabet that "whilst a skilful player, he was not considered fast enough for top class football."
Further appearances in the first team (20 in total with four goals) were recorded, before Tull's contract was bought by Southern Football League club Northampton Town on 17 October 1911 for a "substantial fee", plus Charlie Brittain joining Tottenham Hotspur in return. Tull made his debut four days later against Watford, and made 108 first-team appearances (105 in the League), scoring nine goals for the club. The day before the RMS Titanic sank on 15 April 1912, Tull scored four goals in a match against Bristol Rovers. The manager Herbert Chapman, also a Methodist, was a former Spurs player and had played as a young man with Arthur Wharton at Stalybridge Rovers; Chapman went on to manage both Huddersfield Town and Arsenal to FA Cup wins and League championships.
In 1940, an article in the Glasgow Evening Times about Tull being the first "coloured" infantry officer in the British Army reported that he had signed to play for Rangers after the war. Rangers have confirmed that Tull signed for them in February 1917, while he was an officer cadet in Scotland at Gailes, Ayrshire.
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Walter Tull
Walter Daniel John Tull (28 April 1888 – 25 March 1918) was an English professional footballer and British Army officer of Afro-Caribbean descent. He played as an inside forward and half back for Clapton, Tottenham Hotspur and Northampton Town and was the third person of mixed heritage to play in the top division of the Football League after Arthur Wharton and Willie Clarke. He was also the first player of African descent to sign for Rangers in 1917, while stationed in Scotland.
During the First World War, Tull served in the Middlesex Regiment, including in the two Footballers' Battalions. He was commissioned as a second lieutenant on 30 May 1917 and killed in action on 25 March 1918.
Walter Daniel John Tull was born in Folkestone, Kent, the son of Barbadian carpenter Daniel Tull and Kent-born Alice Elizabeth Palmer. His paternal grandfather was a slave in Barbados. His maternal English grandmother was from Kent. He began his education at North Board School, now Mundella Primary School, Folkestone.
In 1895, when Tull was seven, his mother died of cancer. A year later, his father married Alice's cousin, Clara Palmer. She gave birth to a daughter, Miriam, on 11 September 1897. Three months later, Daniel died from heart disease. The stepmother was unable to cope with five children, so the resident minister of Folkestone's Grace Hill Wesleyan Chapel recommended that the two boys of school age, Walter and Edward, should be sent to an orphanage. From the age of nine, Tull was brought up in the Methodist Children's Home and Orphanage (now known as Action for Children) in Bethnal Green, London. Edward was adopted by the Warnock family of Glasgow, becoming Edward Tull-Warnock; he qualified as a dentist, the first mixed-heritage person to practise this profession in the United Kingdom.
Tull's professional football career began after he was spotted playing for top amateur club Clapton. He had signed for Clapton in October 1908, reportedly never playing in a losing side. By the end of the season he had won winners' medals in the FA Amateur Cup, London County Amateur Cup and the London Senior Cup. In March 1909, the Football Star called him "the catch of the season". At Clapton, he played alongside Clyde Purnell and Charlie Rance.
At the age of 21, Tull signed for Football League First Division team Tottenham Hotspur in the summer of 1909 after a close-season tour of Argentina and Uruguay, making him the first mixed-heritage professional footballer to play in Latin America. Tull made his debut for Tottenham in September 1909 in the position of inside forward against Sunderland and his home Football League debut against FA Cup-holders, Manchester United, in front of more than 30,000. His excellent form in this opening part of the season promised a great future. Tull made only 10 first-team appearances, scoring twice, before he was dropped to the reserves. This may have been due to the racial abuse he received from opposing fans, particularly at Bristol City, whose supporters used language "lower than Billingsgate", according to a report at the time in the Football Star newspaper. The match report of the game away to Bristol City in October 1909 by Football Star reporter, "DD", was headlined "Football and the Colour Prejudice", possibly the first time racial abuse was headlined in a football report. "DD" emphasised how Tull remained professional and composed despite the intense provocation: "He is Hotspur's most brainy forward ... so clean in mind and method as to be a model for all white men who play football ... Tull was the best forward on the field." However, soon after, Tull was dropped from the first team and found it difficult to get a sustained run back in the side. Goodwin writes in The Spurs Alphabet that "whilst a skilful player, he was not considered fast enough for top class football."
Further appearances in the first team (20 in total with four goals) were recorded, before Tull's contract was bought by Southern Football League club Northampton Town on 17 October 1911 for a "substantial fee", plus Charlie Brittain joining Tottenham Hotspur in return. Tull made his debut four days later against Watford, and made 108 first-team appearances (105 in the League), scoring nine goals for the club. The day before the RMS Titanic sank on 15 April 1912, Tull scored four goals in a match against Bristol Rovers. The manager Herbert Chapman, also a Methodist, was a former Spurs player and had played as a young man with Arthur Wharton at Stalybridge Rovers; Chapman went on to manage both Huddersfield Town and Arsenal to FA Cup wins and League championships.
In 1940, an article in the Glasgow Evening Times about Tull being the first "coloured" infantry officer in the British Army reported that he had signed to play for Rangers after the war. Rangers have confirmed that Tull signed for them in February 1917, while he was an officer cadet in Scotland at Gailes, Ayrshire.