'A Perfect Day'
The unveiling of a blue plaque to one its former pupils, Andrew
Watson, the first black international footballer, by Viv Anderson, MBE, England’s
first such player, proved a historic occasion for Crossley Heath School on
Wednesday 19 March. On a beautiful sunny day, the drawing back of the plaque’s
curtain, which brought to an end two days of events, was cheered by a large
crowd that included another former pupil and, although a different ball shape,
sports star in Brian Moore.
The plaque can be viewed by visitors to Skircoat Moor, the
heart of Halifax for centuries on which Watson would have had opportunities to
engage in games and make friends. Born in Guiana in 1856, his arrival in West
Yorkshire and subsequent appearances for Scotland in the 1880s is one of
football’s most unique tales as his mother, Anna Rose, was a black woman born
into slavery who was freed, along with her mother Minkle, as a young girl.
Watson’s father, Peter Miller Watson, a wealthy white
Scottish solicitor was highly influential in Demerara where the economy was
based on sugar grown on cane plantations worked by enslaved labour.
Watson, a cousin to Prime Minister William Gladstone, was extremely
fortunate in that, thanks to his father, he was one of the very few illegitimate,
mixed-race children to enjoy an excellent education that saw him become a Queen
Elizabeth Free Grammar School pupil in Heath, Halifax in 1866. A time when
football was emerging to challenge the dominance of rugby.
He became a King’s College pupil in London in 1871 and enrolled
four years later at the University of Glasgow, home to Queen’s Park, the first
side to prioritise the passing game and the best in the world. Meanwhile, English
football with its more individual approach was still struggling to catch up On
his debut in 1881 Watson captained Scotland as they thrashed England 6-1.
Watson followed this up with two more victories against England. At club level
he won the Scottish FA Cup on three occasions.
He later moved south, playing for the famous amateur side
Corinthians where he encouraged players to combine together. He then
represented Bootle, then Merseyside’s number 1, where he became the first black
man to become a football administrator, investor and match official.
Little wonder that alongside Pele he is rightly regarded as
the most influential black footballer of all time.
All these exploits and the background to them were outlined
to a range of pupils within the school on the 18th and 19th
March by football historians Llew Walker, author of A Straggling Life –
Andrew Watson, Bill Hern, author of Football’s Black Pioneers, Richard
McBrearty, curator of the Scottish Football Museum and whose work has probably
done more than anyone to bring Watson ‘back to life.’ Last, but not least, Mark
Metcalf, who lives less than a mile from the school and came up with the idea of
a plaque and who with the backing of headteacher Dean Jones and the school as
whole put it into practice. All four also spoke at a well-attended pie and pie fund
raising supper on the Tuesday night in the school main hall.
On the Wednesday lunch time, Viv Anderson, twice a European
Cup winner with Nottingham Forest who became England’s first black player when
he represented England against Czechoslovakia in 1978 and went on to play 29
times more, was warmly received when he spoke to 500+ pupils within the sports
hall. Since when a further 116 black and ethnic minority players have followed
him including just last week Myles Lewis-Skelly, a full back like Anderson.
Then after signing autographs, he was joined outside at the
pupils’ entrance gate on Skircoat Moor by Mr. Jones, Brian Moore and the four
historians along with the following additional speakers: - Halifax Town manager
Sam Millington, local councillor Colin Hutchinson and Virginia Lloyd, Deputy
Lieutenant of West Yorkshire
After revealing the plaque to the world Anderson, who
admitted he had never heard of Watson until six months earlier, commented that “Watson
must have been very strong willed as back in the 1800s then it must have been
difficult for him but he got through it and I am full of admiration for him.” Anderson
also praised his international colleagues Cyril Regis and Lawrie Cunningham who
he just beat to become England’s first black player.
Dean Jones commented that: “pupils have been able to connect with him as we are a really diverse school, so to be able to champion your own heritage then we can relate to that. Pupils also love sport and to have a sporting icon associated with their school also makes us all really proud. “
A theme that was continued by a school student Ibrahim “we
learnt today about Andrew Watson and Viv Anderson and it is a big inspiration
about how they dealt with racism during their matches.”
Whilst Grace told the press that “I am a big advocate for
women’s football and it has always been a dream to make a change in football
and Viv and Andrew both did that and will inspire me each day to work on
women’s football.”
The event drew considerable media coverage including a 3-minute
evening feature on BBC Look North and articles in The Daily Mail and Sunday
Mirror.
Mark Metcalf, who became a big admirer of Anderson when he
witnessed him face down racists at the Newcastle v Forest game in 1977, said
“it had been a perfect day.”
