FURD - Key Persons
Arthur Wharton was the world's first Black professional footballer. Despite his sporting prowess, he was never fully accepted and died a forgotten man.
Arthur Wharton was born in Jamestown, Accra, Gold Coast (now Ghana) in 1865. Coming to England to study in about 1882, Wharton soon made a name for himself in athletics. Winning the Amateur Athletics Association 100 yards sprint in a world record time of 10 seconds (the first world record), he retained his title in 1887. A supreme all-round athlete, his other sports were cricket, cycling and football.
While playing for Darlington as a goalkeeper Wharton was spotted by Preston North End in 1885 - 86. He joined them the following season during which they reached the semi-finals of the FA Cup. By 1889, he had turned professional, playing for Rotherham Town, Sheffield United, Stalybridge Celtic and Ashton North End. He finished his footballing career in 1902 playing for Stockport County in Football League Division Two. His last match was against Newton Heath in February 1902. An unorthodox and entertaining performer, he had a phenomenal punch as a keeper and, with his sprinting background, sometimes played on the wing.
Born into an upper middle class family his decision to enter professional sport brought him down to a lower social level. Rejected by the Gold Coast Colonial Administration for a civil service post, his sporting prowess was regarded as 'inappropriate' for a colonial official. After he retired from football, he spent much of the rest of his working life as a colliery haulage hand in the South Yorkshire pits. He died in December 1930 and was buried in a third-class grave in Edlington, South Yorkshire.
In 2011, FURD was awarded a grant by the Heritage Lottery Fund to run a 2-year Arthur Wharton Heritage Project, working with schools in South Yorkshire to uncover more about Wharton's life and times, particularly his cricketing and mining careers. A wealth of educational resources were produced during the project, including a documentary film, exhibition and booklet.
Brendon Batson was born on the island of Grenada, moved to Trinidad aged 6 and then came to Britain when he was nine years old in 1962. Looking at his career, it might be heard to believe but before moving to England he hadn't shown any aptitude towards sport and never even kicked a ball before! Once he started to play for his school football team, he made rapid progress though and by 13 was playing for the district.
Batson signed professional at 17. He joined Arsenal in 1970, making ten first team appearances and became the ‘Gunners'' first black first team player. Joining Cambridge United in 1972, Batson made 163 appearances and scored six goals before he followed his manager, Ron Atkinson, to West Bromwich Albion in a £28,000 transfer.
After 160 League appearances in the exciting Albion side of the late 1970s and early 1980s, where he won recognition at England ‘B' level, he suffered a succession of knee injuries that eventually forced him to retire from football in 1984.
Batson has since become a Chairman of the Professional Footballers Association after serving as the Assistant Secretary of the union. He was awarded an MBE in 2001 in recognition of achievements.
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- Team Coach at West Bromwich
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- Manager of the England Women 's Team
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- Chairman of FURD 's Board of Trustees
- Founder and Chair of FURD Board of Trustees
Howard, one of the founders of FURD and now Chair of Trustees, has been the driving force behind the vision of Football Unites, Racism Divides since 1995. FURD's growth as an organisation in tackling racism and its success over the years has been shaped and built under the strong leadership of Howard. In his current role as Chair of Trustees he oversees the smooth functioning of FURD.
Howard is a lifelong Blades fan and a Sheffield United FC season ticket holder. He is a member of the Fare (Football Against Racism in Europe) Network Board having served as Chair for 5 years. Howard has established a strong profile for FURD in South Africa, in particular with the District Six Museum and Welcoming Centre in Cape Town.
Following Howard's retirement as Director in 2011 he has specialised in Black history initiatives, including writing several comic books in the FURD Pioneers series.
Barnes has spoken out regularly about racism in football and in wider society. On 23rd October 2001, he was a motivational speaker at FURD's 'Moving On Up' conference to inspire BME young people to fulfil their potential.
Keith Alexander became better known as a manager than he was during his playing career, winning many admirers for his talents and attitude before his untimely death at the age of 53 on 3rd March 2010. He was a pioneer, and an inspiration to others, being one of only a handful of black managers to come through in English football so far.
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- Engagement and Partnerships Manager
- Sultanti ( Image: FURD ) Our Employability Manager
Lisa Sultanti (Image: FURD) Our Employability Manager Lisa is dedicated to shaping young people's journeys in education and employment. If you're not in employment or in education (NEET), Lisa and her team are here to provide insights, mentorship, and access to valuable tools. From resume refinement and interview coaching to skill development through volunteering and networking strategies, our Employability Manager is your friend in unlocking doors to success.
Lisa's first involvement with FURD was as a volunteer on our Millennium Volunteers programme back in 1999, whilst a student at Sheffield College. One of her achievements as a volunteer was recruiting lots more volunteers. Her voluntary experience helped her get a full time job with us as our education worker in 2001. She also managed our Arthur Wharton Heritage Project from 2011-13. After training as a teacher, she left to broaden her experience before returning to FURD in her new role in 2020.
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- Facility Development Assistant and Health and Safety Officer
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- CEO
- Co - Chief Executive Officer
Mehrun has been part of the FURD team since December 1999. In her previous role as the Millennium Volunteers Coordinator she played a key role in creating a step change in the direction of FURD's work. She has been a key player in creating partnerships and designing anti-racism education training programmes and developing FURD as a model of good practice in upskilling young people as volunteers and future leaders.
As Co-CEO of FURD, under her leadership FURD has excelled in developing young people's social capital, implementing employment programmes and youth projects.
Mehrun graduated from the University of Sheffield with an MA in 'Working with Communities'. Her dissertation topic explored the perspectives of professionals working with Muslim young people; the research proved that people working with Muslim young people had little idea of the impact of Islamophobia on the lives of Muslim young people. This helped to support FURD's strategic objectives
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- Resources and Information Worker, Women and Girls Football Devlopment Worker
Ruth Johnson has been part of the team since 1997. Ruth brings vast experience in the areas of research & information and women's football development. Currently, Ruth leads multiple projects at FURD. As a resources and information worker, Ruth manages FURD's library, website and social media. In her other role as a football development worker, Ruth coordinates the women's and girls' football development programme and walking football for men and women.
Ruth is a qualified and experienced librarian with an MSc in Information Management from the University of Sheffield. She is also an FA level 1 qualified football coach and a keen footballer.
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- Co - Chief Executive Officer ( CEO ) and U - Mix Centre Manager
Since 1997, Simon has been integral part of FURD. He has developed and managed a number of projects in various roles on behalf of FURD. In his current position as Co-CEO he manages the functional operations of U-Mix Centre and FURD's football development programmes.
A native of Sheffield and a proud second generation immigrant from the small Caribbean island of Grenada, he completed his Recreation Management degree at Sheffield Hallam University and post graduate studies at the University of Huddersfield in the area of Youth and Community work. Simon has a wide range of interest including sports, music and arts. He is a die-hard RED DEVILS FAN.
Viv Anderson was the first black footballer to represent England in a full international. He played a groundbreaking role in the progress of black footballers within the game and achieved a great deal as a player in his own right.
On 27th November 1978, (after the match being postponed due to the Wembley pitch freezing solid) Viv Anderson made football history and won his first England cap against Czechoslovakia. He became a role model for generations of black footballers who have since followed in his path.
Playing full-back, right-back and central defence, he was a much admired tackler, nicknamed ‘spider' for his lanky build and skills in handling the ball on the pitch.
He won nearly every cup going; the European Cup in 1979 and 1980, European Super Cup in 1979 and played for Nottingham Forest, Arsenal, Manchester United, Sheffield Wednesday, Barnsley and Middlesborough, and of course England.
Anderson was born in Nottingham on the 29th November, 1956 to West Indian parents. He enjoyed school, particularly sport and played for several school and Sunday league teams throughout his school career. Growing up, Viv was a Manchester United fan, a team who he later went on to play for. Determined to make a career of his passion, he was representing the city and county by the age of 15.
At the age of 15, Manchester United identified his talent and invited him for trial but Anderson first completed his education before going back to try out for the club he then avidly supported. That time, it was a rejection. With no way of knowing he would get another chance to play at Old Trafford 13 years later, he was devastated and got a job at a local printers.
He almost gave up hope of a career in professional football until Nottingham Forest scouted him and he was given his chance to prove himself.
Anderson played 400 games for Forest in the height of their success. He helped them win many games and remains a well-loved player to this day. Anderson made a huge impact on the fans, shown by the fact he was voted Nottingham Forest's best ever right-back by 96% majority in a 1997 poll.
Anderson's World Cup debut was in the 1982 qualifier competition against Norway in a 4-0 win for England.
In 1984, Anderson moved to Arsenal for £222,000. During 3 years there he scored 15 goals in 150 appearances and became a mentor to the upcoming talent of Tony Adams. He helped the Gunners gain their first trophy, the 1987 League Cup, and Arsenal fans were understandably sad to see him move to Manchester United in that same year.
Alex Ferguson's first signing; Anderson fulfilled his childhood dreams by playing for Manchester United for 4 seasons. He then went on to play for Sheffield Wednesday and helped them to be promoted to the First Division.
His final appearance for England was in 1988. In 1993, Anderson managed Barnsley and was assistant manager to Bryan Robson at Middlesbrough. His last game was in 1995 against Barnsley, a former team.
In 1999 Anderson was awarded an MBE for his services to football. He now works in sports management and television and in 2003 opened an exhibition about another groundbreaking black footballer, Arthur Wharton, at the National Football Museum.