Exhibition celebrates Arthur Wharton, first black pro footballer

The exhibition tells the story of Arthur Wharton, who came to Darlington in 1882 as a Methodist student but left seven years later as the fastest man on the planet and a box office sportsman – he was one of the first stars of the railway age, using trains to travel the country to play matches and win prizes.

The exhibition, therefore, is in the Carriage Works at the Hopetown railway attraction in Darlington and runs until the end of August.

The opening of the Arthur Wharton exhibition, from left: England’s first black cricketer Roland Butcher, former Darlington footballer Lloyd Maitland, Shaun Campbell of the Arthur Wharton Foundation, Darlington mayor Cllr Helen Crumbie and Jason Lee of the Professional Footballers’ Association (Image: Stuart Boulton)

The eclectic guestlist, like the exhibition, was pulled together by Shaun Campbell, who runs the foundation dedicated to promoting Wharton’s legacy. The town mayor, Cllr Helen Crumbie, introduced Shaun as “one of Darlington’s most tireless characters”, and looking at the guestlist, Dorothy Compai, Arthur’s great-grand-daughter said: “My mum always said Shaun will get where Castor oil can’t get.”

Shaun Campbell of the Arthur Wharton Foundation with Arthur Wharton’s great- granddaughter Dorothy Compai at the opening of the Arthur Wharton exhibition at Hopetown in Darlington. 10/6/2026. Photograph: Stuart Boulton/The Northern Echo (Image: Stuart Boulton)

Dorothy had come from Rotherham, where the football club had given Arthur the first professional contract for a black player in 1889.

She had brought with her items from a suitcase of family treasures. These include Arthur’s own bible and a picture of his father, the Reverend Henry Wharton, which now appear in the exhibition.

The Reverend Henry Wharton, probably in 1863 in London. He was the father of Arthur (Image: Hopetown, Darlington)

Henry was of mixed race, born in Grenada in the Caribbean to a Grenadian woman and a Scottish sea captain. He spent six years being educated in Glasgow and then became a Methodist missionary in Ghana in west Africa.

There he met and married Annie, who was the daughter of a member of the Fante royal family and a Scottish sea trader.

This explains how Arthur came to be in Darlington: his father put great store in his son receiving a religious education in the British motherland.

(Image: Supplied)

However, Arthur had a determined streak, and became estranged from his family as single-mindedly pursued his sporting career. Playing for the Quakers, he became the finest goalkeeper in the north; wearing a Darlington shirt, he became the first person to run 100 yards in exactly 10 seconds. He set cycling records, he played cricket professionally, he could throw a cricket ball so far he won prizes.

Roland Butcher, the first black cricketer to play for England said as he looked at Arthur’s bible: “The level that he attained in so many sports is truly an inspiration to everybody, not just the black race, but to everybody who aspires to do anything in sport.”

Railways were a major part of Arthur’s career. Alison Grange, the collections engagement manager at Hopetown, said: “Railways helped professionalise sport. They helped teams travel across the country, and they helped spectators attend the matches. The idea of the cup final became a thing because of the railways, and Arthur Wharton is involved in that.”

In 1887, when Arthur starred in the Durham Cup final for Darlington against their town rivals St Augustine’s, the North Eastern Railway laid on two special excursion trains so the crowd of 6,000 could see the match in Middlesbrough.

In the same year, Arthur signed to play in the FA Cup for Preston North End, who were the Manchester City of the day. The third round took them to play Renton, then a leading Scottish club near Glasgow. Preston took the train, and onboard Arthur played cricket in the corridor, using a footwarmer as a wicket. He was said to be “cat-like” taking catches at short leg as the train rocked along.

Chef Ahmed Abdalla with the ceramic football, now in the exhibition, that he used to create a dish inspired by Arthur Wharton on the Great British Menu (Image: Chris Lloyd)

All this inspired Ahmed Abdalla, chef at the Grand Hotel in York (an NER railway hotel, designed by the same architect as Bank Top station) when he appeared on the Great British Menu a couple of years ago.

“We were asked to make a course with the title ‘Great Britons’,” he said.

“I found myself surrounded by different figures from history, by people from Yorkshire: George Hudson (the railway king, from York), Anne Lister (the lesbian diarist known as Gentleman Jack, from Halifax) and the chocolatiers from York, but Arthur brings my two passions of football and food together.”

Following Arthur’s Caribbean roots, he produced a jerk-spiced monkfish in a callaloo sauce (a Caribbean plant) with a Scotch bonnet emulsion and pickled okra, all served in an old-fashioned lace-up football that had dry ice pouring out of it.

“We smoked the monkfish for a bit, and people like to see a show to go with the story, and it all came out well,” he said. It was the highest scoring fish dish on the show, and he has placed his ceramic football in the exhibition.

Jason Lee, the former Nottingham Forest striker who is now an equality officer with the Professional Footballers’ Association, said: “Arthur is one of the trailblazers. When I was a kid, Pele, John Barnes and Viv Anderson were my idols, and he is up there with them. I think it is important to hear the history, and, especially if you are from Darlington, this is a very big story.”

(Image: Supplied)

• Arthur Wharton: He Changed the World from Here is free at Hopetown until August 31