It is now well documented that Andrew Watson – the world’s first black footballer player – appeared in the colours of Bootle FC when he moved to Merseyside to become a Marine Engineer in 1887.

However, it has recently been discovered that he had previously “teamed up” with a future Bootle player during his time in Glasgow. His name was Thomas J Britten.

Despite being born March 1858 in Herefordshire his birth was registered at the nearby town of Presteigne in Powys that made him eligible to play for Wales. In 1877, while learning to be a Mining Engineer in Scotland, Britten accepted an invitation to play for a Parkgrove club where Andrew Watson acted as club secretary. Based in the Plantation area of Glasgow, they had a home ground at Trinidad Park. Also now playing in the Parkgrove side was Robert Walker.

Born January 1857 at Sierra Leone in West Africa, he was the son of Alexander, a Scottish Sugar Planter, and a native girl named Judith. The 1861 and 1871 census finds Robert living with an aunt at Kirkbean in the Scottish Lowlands where he is receiving an education. When this was complete, he moved to Glasgow where his name starts to appear in the ranks of the football team who represented the Third Lanarkshire Rifle Volunteers. On the 11th of March 1876, he played for “The Thirds” in the Scottish FA Cup final against the holders Queens Park on the West of Scotland Cricket Ground in Glasgow. The match went to a re-play, which took place on the same venue, where Queens Park retained the trophy. In September 1877, Walker joined Parkgrove along with a certain Tommy Martin.

Filling the position of goalkeeper, Martin had been born in the Dutch East Indies and was in the process of being educated in Glasgow. His mother was a native of the island of Java while his father, a Shipping Agent, was born in England. These 4 men would now form the backbone of the first multicultural team on the Planet.

The Parkgrove club went on to have a moderately successful season by reaching the last eight of the SFA knockout but were eliminated by the eventual winners, Vale of Leven. During the season TJ Britten won an international cap for Wales, 23rd of March 1878, against Scotland. The Parkgrove team, however, soon began to dissolve when Andrew Watson joined, the Queens Park club in Glasgow. Tommy Martin eventually went back to the Dutch East Indies while TJ

Brittan returned to Presteigne and made his second appearance for Wales. On the 14th of April he represented Bootle in the inaugural final of the Liverpool & District Cup knockout and played an instrumental part in their 3-1 win over Liverpool Ramblers. Thomas J Britten later emigrated to South Africa and died in Johannesburg on the 24th of October 1910.

Walker and Watson decided on a career in the Merchant Navy and their service records can be found at the Maritime Museum in Liverpool. Robert Walker later married Aberdeen born Jane Watson who was then residing on Merseyside. Along with his family he later moved to London where he died on the 11th of March 1936 and was buried at Hammersmith Cemetery. Andrew Watson had previously died, 8th of March 1921, also in London.

Tony Onslow.