Rotherham United are once again incredibly proud to be joining in with highlighting Black History Month in the calendar, and are working with our Community Sports Trust to engage in a number of activities around Saturday's fixture with Hull City which celebrate the achievements of those connected with both the club and Rotherham as a town.
It has become almost customary at this time of year for us to remind everyone of our connections with the legendary Arthur Wharton, who became the first black professional footballer when he joined Rotherham United.
We have been delighted to have enlisted the help of his family over the last few months, with them playing an integral role in us creating an exhibition dedicated to Arthur and his achievements as a pioneer in the sport, as part of our pop-up museum in the summer, which was visited by people from all over the globe during the UEFA Women’s EURO 2022.
Beyond that, we have been – and will continue to – work closely with The Arthur Wharton Foundation and have been delighted to support them recently across a number of projects, one of which included our first team ‘keepers Viktor Johansson and Josh Vickers reminding fans Arthur’s contribution to the game – a former goalkeeper himself – with a bespoke video message.
To celebrate our collaboration with the Arthur Wharton Foundation and his family which has allowed us to display our connections even more prominently this year more than any previously – and with members of Arthur’s family in attendance at today’s game – the club will be inviting everyone inside AESSEAL New York Stadium to join us in a period of applause prior to Saturday’s game.
We know that our supporters are as proud as we are of our affiliation with Arthur which has been maintained by his family and will be equally keen to outwardly show their appreciation for his contribution to the decorated history of the football club.
Jamie Noble, who heads up our Community Sports Trust and has played a key role in the continued efforts to highlight Arthur’s impact on the sporting world said:
“With everything that we have worked alongside the Arthur Wharton Foundation and Arthur’s family to achieve this year, it felt like an appropriate time to have them down as guests of the club for a match and beyond that, extend our thanks to them as a football club.
“October is Black History Month and the club and Community Sports Trust traditionally engage in an enormous amount of work in that space, but what better way is there to mark the achievements of people from Black heritage than to be talking about the first ever Black professional footballer – who we are very proud to say played for the Millers."
“Our Youth and Inclusion Manager Ant Bayou has put in countless hours of work this year and has worked closely with Shaun Campbell and Danny Howes from the Arthur Wharton Foundation. With their help and the assistance of Arthur’s family, we feel like 2022 has been a year in which we have really brought Arthur’s story to life, which was presented brilliantly in an exhibit dedicated to him in our pop-up museum over the summer.
“Of course, our work with them won’t stop here, but the people at the club felt that with all of the above factors considered, it would be appropriate for us to take the time to celebrate Arthur’s life with a minute’s applause prior to Saturday’s game.”