Who was the first black profesional soccer player?

Answer 1

Halfback Kenny Washington (March 21) and end Woody Strode (May 7) signed with the Los Angeles Rams to become the first African-Americans to play in the NFL in the modern era. Guard Bill Willis (August 6) and running back Marion Motley (August 9) joined the AAFC with the Cleveland Browns.

Answer 2

The first black player to play internationally was Andrew Watson who played for Scotland between 1881 and 1882. He played club for Queen's Park but in those days, players took pride in being amateurs. The first black professional player was Arthur Watson for Preston North End in 1889. He was mainly a goalkeeper who sometimes took the field. Artur Friedenreich was the first black Brazilian who started his career in 1910. He dyed his hair and skin to avoid problems for the first years of his career. He is the leading goalscorer of all time with even more goals than Pele. There were a number of black professional in the US before 1960. There was no color barrier in soccer as in the other American sports so the first black players essentially went more or less unnoticed. One of the early pros was Giles Heron whose son Gil Scott-Heron, musician has been called the "Godfather of Rap". The senior Heron played for the Detroit Corinthians in the American Soccer League in 1950's. He later played in Scotland for Glasgow Celtic. Otey Cannon was the first African-American player in the North American Soccer League for the Dallas Tornadoes in the 1960's. The MLS allocated the best players so there technically was no real firt black player because a ton of them started at the same time. One interesting fact. There is a greater percentage of African Americans in MLS than MLB 17 to 8.

Answer 3

Fritz Pollard and Bobby Marshall were the first two African Americans to play in the NFL in 1920. Pollard played for the Akron Pros and Marshall played for the Rock Island Independents.

Fritz Pollard was also the first Black Head Coach in the NFL when he became Co-Head Coach at Akron in 1921, while remaining in the runningback position.

He was also the first Black to be on a Championship team when Akron Won the tirle in 1920.

Answer 4

Fritz Pollard and Bobby Marshall were the first black players in what is now the NFL in 1920.

Answer 5

Charles Follis, who played with the Shelby Athletic Club between 1902-1906, is believed to be the first African American to be paid for playing football.

Answer 6

Charles Follias is the first African American to play in the NFL

Answer 7

jared allen