Walter Tull
 |
|||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Walter Daniel John Tull | ||
| Date of birth | 28 April 1888 | ||
| Place of birth | Folkestone, Kent, England | ||
| Date of death | 25 March 1918 (aged 29) | ||
| Place of death | Pas-de-Calais, France | ||
| Playing position | Midfielder | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1908–1909 | Clapton | ||
| 1909–1911 | Tottenham Hotspur | 10 | (2) |
| 1911–1914 | Northampton Town | 111 | (9) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. |
|||
Walter Daniel John Tull (28 April 1888 – 25 March 1918) was an English professional footballer who played as an inside forward for Tottenham Hotspur and Northampton Town. He was the third person of mixed heritage to play in the top division of the Football League, after Arthur Wharton of Sheffield United and Billy Clarke of Aston Villa. His 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 London Senior Cup. In March 1909 the Football Star called him "the catch of the season".
From the age of 9, Tull was brought up in the (Methodist) Children's Home and Orphanage (now known as Action for Children) in Bethnal Green, London, along with his brother, Edward, following the death of their parents. He joined Tottenham in the summer of 1909. His first senior games were in Argentina and Uruguay on the club's close season tour to South America. He made his home Football League debut against FA Cup holders, Manchester United, in front of over 30,000. His excellent form in this opening part of the season promised a great future. However, at a match away to Bristol City in October 1909 Tull was the target of vicious racist abuse. So incensed was the 'Football Star' reporter, DD, that his match report was headlined 'Football and the Colour Prejudice'. This is possibly the first time racial abuse was headlined in a football report. DD was keen to emphasis 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 he was soon dropped from the first team and found it difficult to get a sustained run back in the side in which he started so well. He played most of his subsequent games for the reserves and was eventually transferred to Herbert Chapman's Northampton Town in 1911, where he made 111 first-team appearances. Interestingly, Chapman - also a Methodist - was a former Spurs player and had played as a young man with Arthur Wharton at Stalybridge Rovers. He went on to manage both Huddersfield Town and Arsenal to FA Cup wins and League championships and is recognised as one of the great managers in the history of the Football League.
...
Wikipedia