Darlington FC celebrate Black History Month with special matchday event

At Saturday’s home match against Warrington Town, Darlington FC celebrated ‘Black History Month’ with a series of activities paying tribute to our club’s proud black player and manager heritage.

Supporters arriving at Blackwell Meadows, were greeted by a special matchday programme; with a front cover collage and six-page feature on the club’s current and former black players and management; with a detailed story on Arthur Wharton, who was the world’s first black professional footballer, who started his career here at Darlington.

In the Hospitality Lounge, host Andrew Scullion welcomed representatives of the Arthur Wharton Foundation, including former Quakers Alan Kamara, Lloyd Maitland and David Speedie; and founder of the Foundation, Shaun Campbell spoke passionately about Arthur’s legacy, the work of the Foundation and the importance of celebrating Darlington’s black player and manager heritage, as part of Black History Month.

Black History Month is a national celebration, each October, which aims to promote and celebrate the contributions of those with African and Caribbean heritage, to British society and to foster an understanding of black history in general.

Prior to kick-off, there was a minute’s applause around the ground to honour and celebrate our black player and management heritage.

The day’s activities were very important to Darlington FC, as Chairman / CEO David Johnston explains, “I was delighted to highlight ‘Black History Month’ at the club. What a proud tradition we have at Darlington FC with so many notable players from Arthur Wharton to Cedric Main, via Lloyd Maitland and so many others – and then our own Gary Bennett, one of the first black managers in the UK.

 Some may ask why it is important to recognise in this way – and why have a Black History Month in the UK. I see it simply, that it gives everyone the opportunity to share, celebrate and understand the impact of black heritage and culture – in our case with our own history, some of which is truly pioneering. People from African and Caribbean backgrounds have been a fundamental part of British history for centuries and our matchday event last month was our chance to both celebrate and give thanks for that contribution. We therefore proudly paid tribute to all our former black players and managers on our own black history day on the Warrington Town matchday”.

Shaun Campbell, Founder of the Arthur Wharton Foundation also spoke positively about the day’s events, “The Arthur Wharton Foundation and guests, including former players; David Speedie, Lloyd Maitland and Alan Kamara, send our sincere thanks to Darlington FC for a lovely day at Blackwell Meadows.

 "Celebrating Arthur Wharton, and all current and former black players and managers in their history, through a one-minute applause, made this a very special day.

"Special thanks to Joanne, Cheryl and Richard for putting this together, and to Andrew Scullion for being a fabulous host.

"Most importantly, a huge thank you to the fans, for their applause, warmth and support on the day”.