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Black pioneer Tull deserves Military Cross for his bravery in World War One, says man who's written a play of footballer's life
By Andrew Magee
PUBLISHED:10:50 EST, 21 February 2013| UPDATED:11:56 EST, 21 February 2013
Hero: Tull, pictured in Tottenham's colours circa 1910, was Britain's first outfield black footballer
Twenty-first century football is blighted by many things, some serious, some superficial: financial doping and amateur dramatics; overpaid
prima-donnas and bankruptcy. But it’s a sad fact that, for a tiny minority, racism is still an issue
in football.
Turn the clock back just over 100 years and that nasty undercurrent was just beginning to trickle into the national game. As black players began to become professionals, they faced rafts of abuse and discrimination. But there were men who resisted. Men like Walter Tull.
Tull was the first professional black outfield player to play in the top division of English football. Though a pioneer in his own right, he was not the first black professional player – that record belongs to goalkeeper Arthur Wharton. But Tull’s story is a remarkable one, so much so that his life is being turned into a play.
Phil Vasili, a historian and author, has written extensively on the history of black footballers and is the man behind ‘Tull’, a historical play that opens at Bolton’s Octagon Theatre tonight.
‘He genuinely was quite an incredible character in terms of his resilience and fortitude,’ says the 56-year-old, who also works as a youth scout for Manchester United.
‘I tried to find a hidden side to him but I just couldn’t find anything negative about him. He was an inspirational character and a genuinely likeable one.’
Born in Folkestone in 1888, Tull was the son of a Barbadian carpenter but lost both of his parents at an early age. He grew up in a Methodist orphanage in east London, showing talent as an inside-forward and signing for amateur side Clapton FC. His talents were not ignored for long.
Tull moved to Tottenham Hotspur in 1909 to become the first professional black outfield player. But it was while playing for Spurs that Tull suffered abuse at the hands of the racists.
His moniker, ‘Darkie Tull’, betrays the attitudes of the age, but the verbal assaults reached a peak during a match at Bristol City in 1909. In one of the first instances of a newspaper citing racism in a headline, the Football Star reported ‘a section of the spectators made a cowardly attack on him in language lower than Billingsgate (London's fish market).
Storyteller: Director Phil Vasili says Tull was an inspirational and genuinely likeable character
‘Let me tell those Bristol hooligans that Tull is so clean in mind and method as to be a model for all white men who play football... In point of ability, if not actual achievement, Tull was the best forward on the field.’
Despite that ability, Tull’s career at Spurs never took off. Instead it was at Northampton Town where he played for most of his career, playing at half-back and scoring nine goals in 110 appearances for the club.
But, as were the lives of many young men, Tull’s was interrupted by the Great War. He joined the 17th (1st Football) Battalion of the Middlesex Regiment and was in France by November 1915.
Amazingly, after becoming one of the first black professional footballers, Tull was also one of the first black commissioned officers in the British Armed Services.
Tull served on the Italian front-line, leading dangerous night raids across the river Piave in the Dolomites, before being redeployed in France. His leadership qualities saw him promoted to lieutenant, despite army regulations stipulating that 'any negro or person of colour' was forbidden from becoming an officer.
On stage: Tull's life is being made into a play by at Bolton's Octagon Theatre, with the title page above
His commanding officer, Major General Sir Sydney Lawford, praised Tull for his ‘gallantry and coolness’, but that reassuring presence was lost in the blood and trenches of the Somme.
On 25 March 1918, at the age of 29, Tull was gunned down by machine-gun fire. His soldiers tried to retrieve his body from the nightmare of no-man’s land, a testament to his character, but they were driven back. Tull’s body was never recovered.
‘It’s amazing how his influence has grown over time,’ says Vasili. ‘When you’re studying someone you realise that. He spent four years in the trenches getting gassed and bombed so, on a personal level, you do begin to feel a kind of connection.’
Tull was recommended for the Military Cross for his bravery, but never received it.
Campaign: Calls are being made for army hero Tull, pictured with a fellow officer (left), to be awarded a Military Cross, and the man portraying his life on stage, Nathan Ives-Moiba (right)
‘It would have been very unusual, having joined the army in 1914, getting promoted as he did and surviving until 1918, for Tull not to be recommended for any military decoration,’ says Vasili. ‘It would have been virtually unheard of if you had survived that long.’
But, despite the recommendation, he never received the award. Now Vasili is fronting a campaign for Tull to be posthumously decorated. A government e-petition has been created, but 100,000 signatures are needed for the issue to be discussed in Parliament.
It is hoped the play, which features a potential world record for the most characters (more than 100), will raise awareness for the campaign, as might a feature film, which is currently being discussed.
And, should Tull finally be granted his military decoration, it will be a fitting recognition of one of the true pioneers of the beautiful game.
‘Tull’ runs from Thursday 21st February to Saturday 16th March at The Octagon theatre in Bolton. For more information visit: https://octagonbolton.co.uk/tull
The petition to see Tull awarded with a posthumous Military Cross can be viewed and signed here: http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/41209
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/foo...#ixzz2LaKM39TV
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By Andrew Magee
PUBLISHED:10:50 EST, 21 February 2013| UPDATED:11:56 EST, 21 February 2013
Hero: Tull, pictured in Tottenham's colours circa 1910, was Britain's first outfield black footballerTwenty-first century football is blighted by many things, some serious, some superficial: financial doping and amateur dramatics; overpaid
prima-donnas and bankruptcy. But it’s a sad fact that, for a tiny minority, racism is still an issue
in football.
Turn the clock back just over 100 years and that nasty undercurrent was just beginning to trickle into the national game. As black players began to become professionals, they faced rafts of abuse and discrimination. But there were men who resisted. Men like Walter Tull.
Tull was the first professional black outfield player to play in the top division of English football. Though a pioneer in his own right, he was not the first black professional player – that record belongs to goalkeeper Arthur Wharton. But Tull’s story is a remarkable one, so much so that his life is being turned into a play.
Phil Vasili, a historian and author, has written extensively on the history of black footballers and is the man behind ‘Tull’, a historical play that opens at Bolton’s Octagon Theatre tonight.
‘He genuinely was quite an incredible character in terms of his resilience and fortitude,’ says the 56-year-old, who also works as a youth scout for Manchester United.
‘I tried to find a hidden side to him but I just couldn’t find anything negative about him. He was an inspirational character and a genuinely likeable one.’
Born in Folkestone in 1888, Tull was the son of a Barbadian carpenter but lost both of his parents at an early age. He grew up in a Methodist orphanage in east London, showing talent as an inside-forward and signing for amateur side Clapton FC. His talents were not ignored for long.
Tull moved to Tottenham Hotspur in 1909 to become the first professional black outfield player. But it was while playing for Spurs that Tull suffered abuse at the hands of the racists.
His moniker, ‘Darkie Tull’, betrays the attitudes of the age, but the verbal assaults reached a peak during a match at Bristol City in 1909. In one of the first instances of a newspaper citing racism in a headline, the Football Star reported ‘a section of the spectators made a cowardly attack on him in language lower than Billingsgate (London's fish market).
Storyteller: Director Phil Vasili says Tull was an inspirational and genuinely likeable character‘Let me tell those Bristol hooligans that Tull is so clean in mind and method as to be a model for all white men who play football... In point of ability, if not actual achievement, Tull was the best forward on the field.’
Despite that ability, Tull’s career at Spurs never took off. Instead it was at Northampton Town where he played for most of his career, playing at half-back and scoring nine goals in 110 appearances for the club.
But, as were the lives of many young men, Tull’s was interrupted by the Great War. He joined the 17th (1st Football) Battalion of the Middlesex Regiment and was in France by November 1915.
Amazingly, after becoming one of the first black professional footballers, Tull was also one of the first black commissioned officers in the British Armed Services.
Tull served on the Italian front-line, leading dangerous night raids across the river Piave in the Dolomites, before being redeployed in France. His leadership qualities saw him promoted to lieutenant, despite army regulations stipulating that 'any negro or person of colour' was forbidden from becoming an officer.
On stage: Tull's life is being made into a play by at Bolton's Octagon Theatre, with the title page aboveHis commanding officer, Major General Sir Sydney Lawford, praised Tull for his ‘gallantry and coolness’, but that reassuring presence was lost in the blood and trenches of the Somme.
On 25 March 1918, at the age of 29, Tull was gunned down by machine-gun fire. His soldiers tried to retrieve his body from the nightmare of no-man’s land, a testament to his character, but they were driven back. Tull’s body was never recovered.
‘It’s amazing how his influence has grown over time,’ says Vasili. ‘When you’re studying someone you realise that. He spent four years in the trenches getting gassed and bombed so, on a personal level, you do begin to feel a kind of connection.’
Tull was recommended for the Military Cross for his bravery, but never received it.
Campaign: Calls are being made for army hero Tull, pictured with a fellow officer (left), to be awarded a Military Cross, and the man portraying his life on stage, Nathan Ives-Moiba (right)
‘It would have been very unusual, having joined the army in 1914, getting promoted as he did and surviving until 1918, for Tull not to be recommended for any military decoration,’ says Vasili. ‘It would have been virtually unheard of if you had survived that long.’
But, despite the recommendation, he never received the award. Now Vasili is fronting a campaign for Tull to be posthumously decorated. A government e-petition has been created, but 100,000 signatures are needed for the issue to be discussed in Parliament.
It is hoped the play, which features a potential world record for the most characters (more than 100), will raise awareness for the campaign, as might a feature film, which is currently being discussed.
And, should Tull finally be granted his military decoration, it will be a fitting recognition of one of the true pioneers of the beautiful game.
‘Tull’ runs from Thursday 21st February to Saturday 16th March at The Octagon theatre in Bolton. For more information visit: https://octagonbolton.co.uk/tull
The petition to see Tull awarded with a posthumous Military Cross can be viewed and signed here: http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/41209
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/foo...#ixzz2LaKM39TV
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