TULL, Walter
Footballer Army Officer
Walter Tull was Britain's first black professional outfield footballer and also the first black officer in the British Army. His extraordinary career was short-lived, lasting only nine years before he was killed in action at the age of 29. Born in Folkestone in April 1888, his mother Alice, a local woman, died when he was seven years old. His father's death followed two years later and the young Walter along with brother Edward was placed in a Methodist-run orphanage in Bethnal Green, East London. A keen footballer, he was signed up for a local amateur side, Clapton FC, in 1908. Helping his team to victory in three London competitions he was spotted by Tottenham Hotspur and signed professionally in 1909 for a fee of £10 and a wage of £4 per week. He was included in a Spurs squad that toured Argentina and Uruguay. On return he made his home debut versus FA Cup holders, Manchester United. His opening performances were greatly applauded in the press, one newspaper commenting that he was in "a class superior to that shown by most of his colleagues."
He subsequently left Spurs and played more than 100 matches for Northampton Town. When the First World War broke out he abandoned the football pitch and joined the Army's Football Battalion.
Quickly promoted to sergeant, he fought in the Battle of the Somme in 1916. Despite military regulations forbidding people of colour being commissioned as officers he was promoted to lieutenant in 1917. He met his death leading an attack on the \/\/estern Front in March 1918. Several of his men made unsuccessful attempts to bring him back to the British trenches but his body was never recovered.
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