old un Posted January 28, 2020 Share Posted January 28, 2020 I recall in the 1940,s, Cumberbatch playing for Barrow followed by Roy Francis playing for Barrow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dixiedean Posted January 28, 2020 Share Posted January 28, 2020 Cec Thompson played for GB in 1951. He twice played for Barrow in the 60s, but made his debut for Hunslet in 1948, playing for them and at Wembley for Workington. He is remarkable also for having been a native of the NE, and only taking up the game whilst working near Leeds. He hadn't played Union either! He retired to found his own business, get a degree in Economics, teach at a Grammar School and form the first student RL team at Leeds Uni. Not bad for a mixed race kid who grew up in orphanages! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moose Posted January 28, 2020 Share Posted January 28, 2020 Lucius Banks an American quarter back was signed by Hunslet in 1912, he is recognised as being the first black rugby league player. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Number 16 Posted January 28, 2020 Share Posted January 28, 2020 Jim Peters played for Barrow and Saints in 1913 and 14. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dkw Posted January 28, 2020 Share Posted January 28, 2020 55 minutes ago, dixiedean said: Cec Thompson played for GB in 1951. He twice played for Barrow in the 60s, but made his debut for Hunslet in 1948, playing for them and at Wembley for Workington. He is remarkable also for having been a native of the NE, and only taking up the game whilst working near Leeds. He hadn't played Union either! He retired to found his own business, get a degree in Economics, teach at a Grammar School and form the first student RL team at Leeds Uni. Not bad for a mixed race kid who grew up in orphanages! He was also dyslexic, his autobiography is an incredible read. I met him a few times and he has hands the size of a jcb bucket, an absolute gentleman too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dixiedean Posted January 28, 2020 Share Posted January 28, 2020 52 minutes ago, Moose said: Lucius Banks an American quarter back was signed by Hunslet in 1912, he is recognised as being the first black rugby league player. Cue cries of "FORWARD!!!" every time he passed no doubt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonM Posted January 28, 2020 Share Posted January 28, 2020 Tony Collins published some research on this back in the 1990s, might be worth looking out for that if this is a topic of interest. George Bennett was the first Black player for an international team - Wales in the 1930s, after Wigan signed him from RU. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Bennett_(rugby) Roy Francis (mentioned by Old Un) was the first Black man to be a professional coach in British sport - he was famously omitted from the 1947 Lions tour because the Aussies had a bar on non-whites entering the country. I've just read a biography of the Trinidadian cricketer Learie Constantine, who was my grandad's childhood hero growing up in Nelson. Lancashire League cricket seems to have been somewhat ahead of other sports when it came to such things. Constantine was treated far less badly in the north-west of England than he was at home in Trinidad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Futtocks Posted January 28, 2020 Share Posted January 28, 2020 1 hour ago, dkw said: He was also dyslexic, his autobiography is an incredible read. I met him a few times and he has hands the size of a jcb bucket, an absolute gentleman too. Cec Thompson's autobiography gets a thumbs-up from me too. it goes beyond sport and takes you through a remarkable man's life. Let me never fall into the vulgar mistake of dreaming that I am persecuted whenever I am contradicted. Ralph Waldo Emerson Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Futtocks Posted January 28, 2020 Share Posted January 28, 2020 17 minutes ago, JonM said: Tony Collins published some research on this back in the 1990s, might be worth looking out for that if this is a topic of interest. George Bennett was the first Black player for an international team - Wales in the 1930s, after Wigan signed him from RU. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Bennett_(rugby) Roy Francis (mentioned by Old Un) was the first Black man to be a professional coach in British sport - he was famously omitted from the 1947 Lions tour because the Aussies had a bar on non-whites entering the country. I've just read a biography of the Trinidadian cricketer Learie Constantine, who was my grandad's childhood hero growing up in Nelson. Lancashire League cricket seems to have been somewhat ahead of other sports when it came to such things. Constantine was treated far less badly in the north-west of England than he was at home in Trinidad. From what I've read, League Cricket, especially in Lancashire, was so competitive back in the day that they developed colourblindness earlier than the rest of the sport when it came to recognising available talent. Let me never fall into the vulgar mistake of dreaming that I am persecuted whenever I am contradicted. Ralph Waldo Emerson Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davo5 Posted January 28, 2020 Share Posted January 28, 2020 A bit off topic as he was far from being one of the initial players but I can still remember as a Young boy who had only recently taken up the game marvelling at Green Vigo rampaging down the wing for Wigan at Hedingley on Grandstand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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