billhern Posted December 22, 2016 Share Posted December 22, 2016 Hi, I wonder if you can help me please? I'm working on a project involving the first Black footballers for each of the 92 league clubs. I'm not sure who the Owls' first such player was. Does anyone know please? Many thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matthefish2002 Posted December 22, 2016 Share Posted December 22, 2016 I think it was Tony Cunningham who we brought from Barnsley in about 1983. Remember him scoring v Newcastle (Including Kevin Keegan) at Hillsborough from an angle across the keeper from about 40 yards out. I am sure it was not as spectacular as I remember but I was about 8 years old at the time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aeroswfc Posted December 22, 2016 Share Posted December 22, 2016 Tony Cunningham. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NHOwl Posted December 22, 2016 Share Posted December 22, 2016 1 hour ago, matthefish2002 said: I think it was Tony Cunningham who we brought from Barnsley in about 1983. Remember him scoring v Newcastle (Including Kevin Keegan) at Hillsborough from an angle across the keeper from about 40 yards out. I am sure it was not as spectacular as I remember but I was about 8 years old at the time. Newcastle were attacking and thought they had a penalty (so did I) and the referee said No. The ball was played out of defence into open space while everyone was arguing and Cunningham ran on to it. If I remember right he hit it right footed from just outside the area across of the goalkeeper into the bottom corner in front of the Kop. 41k+ there that day. Big game, big atmosphere. Great goal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
torryowl Posted December 22, 2016 Share Posted December 22, 2016 I cant think of any other than tony Cunningham but I think we did have one of mixed race(I hope that's the pc term) earlier than him in allan Thompson...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted December 23, 2016 Share Posted December 23, 2016 Tony Collins (the first black manager in the Football League) was on our books in the 1940's but don't know if he ever made a first team appearance. Wikipedia says not but I never trust wiki. Either way he was a Sheffield Wednesday player long before Cunningham. I wouldn't at all be shocked if there was an earlier black footballer too who has been forgotten. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
torryowl Posted December 23, 2016 Share Posted December 23, 2016 7 hours ago, Wild Will Smith said: Tony Collins (the first black manager in the Football League) was on our books in the 1940's but don't know if he ever made a first team appearance. Wikipedia says not but I never trust wiki. Either way he was a Sheffield Wednesday player long before Cunningham. I wouldn't at all be shocked if there was an earlier black footballer too who has been forgotten. when you look thru the Wednesday players book there's a photo of just about everyone who as played for us and there's no black players earlier than Cunningham .....there's no tony Collins listed . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted December 23, 2016 Share Posted December 23, 2016 31 minutes ago, torryowl said: when you look thru the Wednesday players book there's a photo of just about everyone who as played for us and there's no black players earlier than Cunningham .....there's no tony Collins listed . He left us in 49/50 for York City then went on to play for decades in the Football League for a number of clubs before becoming the first black manager and later a scout. He's still alive. Just because you don't see him in a photo doesn't mean he wasn't on our books. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted December 23, 2016 Share Posted December 23, 2016 Here you go, proof that Tony Collins' registration was acquired by York City by way of a transfer after two years with us. Therefore he was a proper Sheffield Wednesday player, he obviously would have played for us at least in reserve league and cup fixtures during two seasons at the club at least, even if he never made a Footballs League appearance. He was our first black player (that I know of) and went on to achieve so much in the game and we should be proud of him and recognise him as such. He's still alive too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
torryowl Posted December 23, 2016 Share Posted December 23, 2016 i never disputed he wasn't on the books what i'm saying he never played for the 1st team ...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
torryowl Posted December 23, 2016 Share Posted December 23, 2016 I see he had a book out about being the 1st black manager .....though how he's classed as black is a bit of a mystery 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted December 23, 2016 Share Posted December 23, 2016 22 minutes ago, torryowl said: i never disputed he wasn't on the books what i'm saying he never played for the 1st team ...... He doesn't need to have made a Football League appearance he was a paid professional of the club for two years and in that time obviously would have played for the club or they wouldn't have paid for his registration and York wouldn't have needed to acquire it from us. He was our first black player, end of thread. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted December 23, 2016 Share Posted December 23, 2016 16 minutes ago, torryowl said: I see he had a book out about being the 1st black manager .....though how he's classed as black is a bit of a mystery Not racist of you. Much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
torryowl Posted December 23, 2016 Share Posted December 23, 2016 1 hour ago, Wild Will Smith said: Not racist of you. Much. how the feck is that racist ....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted December 23, 2016 Share Posted December 23, 2016 30 minutes ago, torryowl said: how the feck is that racist ....... Being black isn't dependant on how dark the pigment of the skin is. It depends on many factors such as ethnicity, identity, ancestry etc. He may even be mixed race (I personally don't know) but clearly identifies himself as black. Therefore he is black. In the light of why this thread exists, a visitor to the forum researching black footballers, the comment you made shows a lack of understanding of identity and race at best, at worst it appears to be racist (even if that is due to a misguided idea of what makes a person black). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
torryowl Posted December 23, 2016 Share Posted December 23, 2016 1 minute ago, Wild Will Smith said: Being black isn't dependant on how dark the pigment of the skin is. It depends on many factors such as ethnicity, identity, ancestry etc. He may even be mixed race (I personally don't know) but clearly identifies himself as black. Therefore he is black. In the light of why this thread exists, a visitor to the forum researching black footballers, the comment you made shows a lack of understanding of identity and race at best, at worst it appears to be racist (even if that is due to a misguided idea of what makes a person black). and me saying he doesn't look black makes me a racist ......you must have a screw loose Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted December 23, 2016 Share Posted December 23, 2016 5 minutes ago, torryowl said: and me saying he doesn't look black makes me a racist ......you must have a screw loose Did you read any of what I actually said about identity over how dark a persons skin pigment is then? No. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billhern Posted January 8, 2017 Author Share Posted January 8, 2017 Thanks ever so much for your help. This can be a sensitive area and the last thing I wanted to do was cause friction between Owls' fans. Tony Collins' mother was white and his father black. Charlie Williams of Doncaster Rovers and The Comedians had the same mix of parentage but clearly was darker skinned than Tony, for example. Tony was definitely the first black player at Crystal Palace and probably at Rochdale too. Point taken that he was at Wednesday but as he never made the first team I think the mantle of first black player (for my purposes) must fall to Tony Cunningham or Allan Thompson. I have to confess I'd never come across Allan T before. Incidentally as recently as the 19th century, in law, a slave needed to prove that neither his/her parents, grandparents or great grandparents were black before being declared white. Not many of us could actually prove that could we?! Sorry about today's result - good luck for the rest of the season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
belfast owl lad Posted January 8, 2017 Share Posted January 8, 2017 i've been wondering how long it will take before the england team is ALL black,is that racist too? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
torryowl Posted January 9, 2017 Share Posted January 9, 2017 11 hours ago, billhern said: Thanks ever so much for your help. This can be a sensitive area and the last thing I wanted to do was cause friction between Owls' fans. Tony Collins' mother was white and his father black. Charlie Williams of Doncaster Rovers and The Comedians had the same mix of parentage but clearly was darker skinned than Tony, for example. Tony was definitely the first black player at Crystal Palace and probably at Rochdale too. Point taken that he was at Wednesday but as he never made the first team I think the mantle of first black player (for my purposes) must fall to Tony Cunningham or Allan Thompson. I have to confess I'd never come across Allan T before. Incidentally as recently as the 19th century, in law, a slave needed to prove that neither his/her parents, grandparents or great grandparents were black before being declared white. Not many of us could actually prove that could we?! Sorry about today's result - good luck for the rest of the season. allan Thompson was manager of stockport county 1980ish if you need to look him up . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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