Britain’s first black professional outfield footballer was also the first black officer in the British Army and his story will now be told thanks to a £49,900 grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF).
Walter Tull’s extraordinary career lasted just nine short years before he was killed in action at the age of 29. Now the achievements of this grandson of a former slave from the Caribbean will be celebrated with a range of activities run by the City of Westminster Archives.
The project will include a national touring exhibition, website and booklet as well as drama and animation workshops to mark the 90th anniversary of his death on the Western Front in the First World War.
Tull was born in Folkestone in April 1888 but his mother Alice, a local woman, died when he was seven years old. His father’s death followed two years later and the young Walter along with brother Edward was placed in a Methodist-run orphanage in Bethnal Green, East London. A keen footballer, Walter was signed up for a local amateur side, Clapton FC, in 1908. Helping his team to victory in three London competitions he was spotted by Tottenham Hotspur and signed professionally in 1909 for a fee of £10 and a wage of £4 per week.
He was included in a Spurs squad that toured Argentina and Uruguay. On return he made his home debut versus FA Cup holders, Manchester United. His opening performances were greatly applauded in the press, one newspaper commenting that he was in “a class superior to that shown by most of his colleagues.”
He subsequently left Spurs and played more than 100 matches for Northampton Town but when the First World War broke out he abandoned the football pitch and joined the Army’s Football Battalion. He was quickly promoted to sergeant and fought in the Battle of the Somme in 1916. Despite military regulations forbidding people of colour being commissioned as officers he was promoted to lieutenant in 1917.
He met his death leading an attack on the Western Front in March 1918. Several of his men made unsuccessful attempts to bring him back to the British trenches and his body was never recovered.
Activities for the project on his life will be undertaken at the National Army Museum, the National Football Museum and at National Children’s Homes, the organisation that runs the orphanage where he spent much of his childhood. The project exhibition, website and booklet will target young Black people in particular using the football connection as a means of engaging with them.
Commenting on the project Westminster Archives Education and Interpretation Officer, Peter Daniel said: “Westminster Archives is delighted with the grant we have received from the Heritage Lottery Fund. As an organisation we are committed to celebrating diversity and this funding will allow us to bring the story of a Great Black Briton to the wider audience he deserves.”
For the Heritage Lottery Fund London Manager Sue Bowers said: “Walter Tull’s extraordinary achievements deserve a much wider audience. This project will make an important contribution to black British heritage and provide young black people with an excellent role model.”