Freddie Goodwin.
Well-known member
BBC4 had a docu then a drama on this fine chap tonight. Being BBC4 it's bound to be repeated so worth looking out for.
He was a black kid born in Folkestone at a time when there were not many black kids (in the 1890's) His parents both died when he was young so it was off to an orphanage and a pretty tough chilldhood but he was pretty good at football and became one of the 1st black footballers in England, playing for Spurs.
He suffered much racial abuse and Spurs, as a club, eventually wouldn't play him and eventually he went to Northampton.
At the start of WW1 he joined the Footballers battalion and served with distinction and was put forward for promotion to officer, something not allowed as all officers had to be white and of european origin.
Still, he did the training, passed and became an officer. the story did not have a happy ending and there's a movement on to get him the Medal he was never awarded despite being recommended for it.
That's a very brief gist of it. As I say, it's really worth catching.
He was a black kid born in Folkestone at a time when there were not many black kids (in the 1890's) His parents both died when he was young so it was off to an orphanage and a pretty tough chilldhood but he was pretty good at football and became one of the 1st black footballers in England, playing for Spurs.
He suffered much racial abuse and Spurs, as a club, eventually wouldn't play him and eventually he went to Northampton.
At the start of WW1 he joined the Footballers battalion and served with distinction and was put forward for promotion to officer, something not allowed as all officers had to be white and of european origin.
Still, he did the training, passed and became an officer. the story did not have a happy ending and there's a movement on to get him the Medal he was never awarded despite being recommended for it.
That's a very brief gist of it. As I say, it's really worth catching.
