To mark the winter FIFA World Cup 2023, we'll be exploring some UK Black firsts in football throughout December. Do you know who was... The first Black Briton to play association football at international level The first known Black women's footballer in Britain The first Black Briton to play for the senior men's England national team The first player of African-Caribbean descent to be signed to Rangers in 1917 Check out out any of our Bio Shorts articles on the individuals below to find out the answers and why not play our football themed quiz with your friends too! Check out our social media accounts or subscribe to our monthly e-newsletter for regular updates!

Vivian Alexander Anderson, MBE (born 29 July 1956) is an English former professional footballer and coach. He won five senior trophies including the 1977–78 Football League title, and both the 1978–79 European Cup and the 1979–80 European Cup playing for Brian Clough's Nottingham Forest. He was later part of the squads to win a domestic cup with each of Arsenal and Manchester United. He also played for Sheffield Wednesday, Barnsley and Middlesbrough. He was the first Black Briton to play for the senior men's England national football team.

Laurence Paul Cunningham (8 March 1956 – 15 July 1989) was an English professional footballer. A left winger, who started his football career as a schoolboy at Arsenal in 1970 but whose career didn’t take off until he joined West Bromwich Albion in 1977. Two years later, he became the first British footballer signed by Real Madrid. He was there for five years, winning La Liga once and the Copa del Rey twice. After a spell in France with Marseille, he returned to England with Leicester City in 1985, followed by a return to Spain with Rayo Vallecano. Cunningham signed with Wimbledon in 1988, helping them win the FA Cup in 1988 for the final trophy of his career. Cunningham received his first international call-up to the England U21 side in 1977 while playing for West Bromwich Albion, becoming the first Black footballer to represent an England international team organised by the Football Association. He later earned six caps for the full national team between 1979 and 1980, becoming one of the first ever black England internationals. While playing for Rayo Vallecano, Cunningham was killed in a car crash in Madrid on the morning of 15 July 1989, at the age of 33. His football achievements have been commemorated with a blue plaque at his former home at 73 Lancaster Road in Stroud Green, London.

Lieutenant Walter Daniel John Tull (28 April 1888 – 25 March 1918) was an English professional footballer and British Army officer of African-Caribbean descent. He played as an inside forward and half back for Clapton, Tottenham Hotspur and Northampton Town and was the third person of African-Caribbean heritage to play in the top division of the Football League after Arthur Wharton and Willie Clarke. He was also the first player of African-Caribbean descent to be signed for Rangers in 1917 while stationed in Scotland. During the First World War, Tull served in the Middlesex Regiment, including in the two Footballers' Battalions. He was commissioned as a second lieutenant on 30 May 1917 and killed in action on 25 March 1918.

Throughout November we'll be exploring the lives of African and Caribbean heritage service men and women who fought in the First and Second World Wars for Britain. We'll be celebrating the lives of unsung Black heritage service men and women such as Lilian Bader and Ulric Cross. We'll also be revisiting the stories of African-American soldiers who came to the UK during the Second World War and crossed the racial colour bar. To find out more, check our Instagram, Twitter and Youtube social media accounts or subscribe to our newsletter for regular monthly updates. Under the umbrella of the Black Poppy Rose we'll be celebrating Remembrance Month to illuminate the heroic and unsung lives of service men and women who fought in the wars. The Black Poppy Rose commemorates the contributions of Africa, Black, Caribbean, Pacific Islands & Indigenous communities to the war effort – as service men and woman, and as civilians. ​ The Black Poppy Rose was launched in 2010 and aims to highlight the “largely untold historical legacies” from the 16th century onwards.

Ulric Cross is recognised as one of the most decorated Caribbean airman of WWII. He was born in Trinidad in 1917, Cross joined the RAF aged 24. He trained as a navigator and joined 139 Squadron, gaining the nickname ‘The Black Hornet’. Cross became an expert in precision bombing and joined the ranks of the elite Pathfinder Force, often flying missions at just 50 feet instead of the normal 25,000 feet. After 50 missions, Cross was given the option to rest. He refused and volunteered for a further 30 missions. By the war’s end, Cross had flown 80 missions over enemy territory and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Distinguished Service Order. After the war, Cross qualified as a lawyer, and he briefly worked as a talks producer at the BBC’s Caribbean Service. Before being recruited by fellow Trinidadian George Padmore, one of the architects of Pan-Africanism, to travel to Ghana to help Kwame Nkrumah in his work seeking to unite Africa’s emerging nations. During Cross’s 15 years in Africa, he served on Ghana’s Crown Council. He was also Attorney General in Cameroon, a High Court Judge in Tanzania and Dean of the Faculty of Law at the University of Dar Es Salaam. Cross then returned to Trinidad where he served as a High Court judge and on the Court of Appeal, later becoming Chair of the country’s Law Reform Commission. He was posted to London as Trinidad and Tobago’s High Commissioner to the UK from 1990 to 1993.

Andrew Watson was a Scottish footballer who is widely considered to be the world's first black person to play association football at international level. On the 18th October, Doodle celebrated Scottish footballer Andrew Watson as he looks into the future at Black football legends to come and was illustrated by London-based guest artist Selom Sunu. Watson is considered to be the first Black international footballer, the first Black footballer to captain his country, and the first Black football administrator in history. On this day in 1884, Watson took the field for Scottish football team Queen’s Park in the first game played at the new Hampden Park stadium. Watson was born in 1856 in Georgetown, Guyana to a wealthy Scottish former plantation manager and slave owner and Guyanese woman. At age 5, Watson and his father moved to Britain where football was becoming increasingly popular. He fell in love with the sport while attending English public schools in Yorkshire and Wimbledon. After his father’s death, Watson inherited his wealth and became financially independent. This allowed him to enroll at the University of Glasgow where he studied engineering, natural philosophy and mathematics. Instead of graduating, 21-year-old Watson started a wholesale warehouse business and played football on the side. Watson gained a reputation for his fast and skillful style of play as a full-back for Queen's Park FC, one of the best football clubs in Scotland. Thanks to his experience as a businessman, he was also match secretary. After Queen’s Park FC won a Scottish football title, Watson earned a chance to play for Scotland’s international team. He became the first Black man to captain his country and led Scotland to multiple wins over their rival, England, including a 6-1 victory—which remains the biggest home loss for England, ever! His success on the international stage spurred offers from the best clubs in Scotland and England. In 1887, Watson signed with Bootle FC in northern England. At this time, amateur clubs didn’t pay their players, but Bootle FC was known to pay high-profile names. If Watson had received money to play for the Liverpool club, he would technically be the first Black professional footballer. Over the course of his 14-year career, Watson won the Scottish Cup three times and won all three matches he played in against England. The Hampden Bowling club in Glasgow, the site of Scotland's third victory over England, features a mural of Watson. Over a century has passed since Watson’s playing days, but his impact can still be felt across the sport today, as a shining example of lighting the way for past, current and future generations of Black footballers.

Jamacian born Fanny Eaton was one of the most influential muses in the Pre-Raphaelite movement and helped challenge the idealised standards of beauty in Victorian society. On the 18th November Google Doodle celebrated Jamaican-British artist muse Fanny Eaton. Eaton modelled throughout the 1860s for a variety of notable English painters in work that helped redefine Victorian standards of beauty and diversity. On this day in 1874, it is recorded that Eaton sat for life classes at the Royal Academy of London, sessions which were integral to the Pre-Raphaelite movement. Fanny Eaton was born Fanny Matilda Antwistle in Surrey, Jamaica on July 13, 1835. She moved with her mother to Britain during the 1840s, towards the beginning of the Victorian Era. In her 20s, she began modelling for portrait painters at the Royal Academy of London, and she soon captured the attention of a secret society of rising young artists called the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. Eaton made her public debut in Simeon Soloman’s painting The Mother of Moses, which was exhibited in 1860 at the Royal Academy. Over the following decade, she was featured by a variety of prominent Pre-Raphaelite artists such as Dante Gabriel Rossetti, John Everett Millais, and Rebecca Soloman. The group held Eaton up as a model of ideal beauty and featured her centrally at a time when Black individuals were significantly underrepresented, and often negatively represented, in Victorian art. Eaton’s modeling career lasted through much of the decade, and Millais’ 1867 work Jephthah is believed to feature her last known appearance in a painting. Thank you Fanny Eaton, for helping move artistic inclusion forward.

"Small Axe" is an anthology comprised of five original films set from the late 1960s to the mid 1980s that tell personal stories from London's Caribbean community, whose lives have been shaped by their own force of will despite rampant racism and discrimination. The five original films that make up the Small Axe collection by Academy Award, Bafta and Golden Globe-winning filmmaker, Steve McQueen will air weekly on BBC One. Set from the late 1960s to the mid-1980s, the films each tell a story involving London’s West Indian community, whose lives have been shaped by their own force of will, despite rampant racism and discrimination. Even though this collection of films is set some decades ago, the stories are as vital and timely today as they were for the West Indian community in London at the time. Small Axe is a celebration of Black joy, beauty, love, friendship, family, music and even food; each one, in its own unique way, conveys hard-won successes, bringing hope and optimism for 2020. Steve McQueen explains: “The seed of Small Axe was sown 11 years ago. Initially, I had conceived of it as a TV series, but I realised these stories had to stand alone as original films, yet at the same time be part of a collective. The anthology, anchored in the West Indian experience in London, is a celebration of all that that community has succeeded in achieving against the odds. "Although all five films take place between the late 1960s and mid-80s, they are just as much a comment on the present moment as they were then. They are about the past, yet they are very much concerned with the present. A commentary on where we were, where we are and where we want to go.” Lucy Richer, Senior Drama Commissioner and Executive Producer for the BBC: “It has been an honour to work with Steve to bring Small Axe to screen. With his visionary genius as a filmmaker he has made incredible, life-changing, life-affirming films which tell burning stories from our past and blaze a trail for the future. "These inspiring films of truth and powerful purpose celebrate ordinary lives, and we are delighted to bring them to BBC One and BBC iPlayer this November.” Small Axe has been executive produced by Tracey Scoffield and David Tanner for Turbine Studios and Steve McQueen for Lammas Park. Mike Elliot is producing for EMU Films with Turbine and Anita Overland. The executive producers for the BBC are Lucy Richer, Senior Commissioning Editor for Drama and Rose Garnett, Director of BBC Film. Amazon Studios is co-producing within the US. BBC Studios are the international distributors and are handling global television sales. Small Axe will debts on BBC One and iPlayer, and air on Amazon Prime Video in the US for five consective weeks. Mangrove, the first in the series, will premieres on BBC One and iPlayer on the 20th November. Mangrove Mangrove centers on Frank Crichlow (Shaun Parkes), the owner of Notting Hill's Caribbean restaurant, Mangrove, a lively community base for locals, intellectuals and activists. In a reign of racist terror, the local police raid Mangrove time after time, making Frank and the local community take to the streets in peaceful protest in 1970. When nine men and women, including Frank and leader of the British Black Panther Movement Altheia Jones-LeCointe (Letitia Wright), and activist Darcus Howe (Malachi Kirby), are wrongly arrested and charged with incitement to riot, a highly publicized trial ensues, leading to hard-fought win for those fighting against discrimination. Lovers Rock Lovers Rock tells a fictional story of young love at a Blues party in 1980. The film is an ode to the romantic reggae genre called "Lovers Rock" and to the Black youth who found freedom and love in its sound in London house parties, when they were unwelcome in white nightclubs. Amarah-Jae St. Aubyn makes her screen debut opposite the BAFTAs 2020 Rising Star award recipient Micheal Ward (Top Boy). Red, White and Black Red, White and Blue tells the true story of Leroy Logan (John Boyega), a young forensic scientist with a yearning to do more than his solitary laboratory work. When he sees his father assaulted by two policemen, he finds himself driven to revisiting a childhood ambition to become a police officer; an ambition borne from the naïve hope of wanting to change racist attitudes from within. Leroy must face the consequences of his father's disapproval, and the blatant racism he finds in his new role as a despised yet exemplary constable in the Metropolitan Police Force. Alex Wheatle Alex Wheatle follows the true story of award-winning writer, Alex Wheatle (Sheyi Cole), from a young boy through his early adult years. Having spent his childhood in a mostly white institutional care home with no love or family, he finally finds not only a sense of community for the first time in Brixton, but his identity and ability to grow his passion for music and DJ'ing. When he is thrown in prison during the Brixton Uprising of 1981, he confronts his past and sees a path to healing. Education Education is the coming of age story of 12-year-old Kingsley (Kenyah Sandy), who has a fascination for astronauts and rockets. When Kingsley is pulled to the headmaster's office for being disruptive in class, he discovers he's being sent to a school for those with "special needs." Distracted by working two jobs, his parents (Sharlene Smith, Daniel Francis) are unaware of the unofficial segregation policy at play, preventing many Black children from receiving the education they deserve, until a group of West Indian women take matters into their own hands.

Guyanese-British firefighter and social worker Frank Bailey, who is widely considered to be the first Black firefighter of post-war London, paved the way for diversity and inclusion within the fire service. On 26th November, Google Doodle illustrated by West Yorkshire-based guest artist Nicole Miles, celebrated Guyanese-British firefighter and social worker Frank Bailey, who is widely considered the first Black firefighter of post-war London. Among his pioneering accomplishments in the name of diversity and inclusion, Bailey is also credited as one of the first Black social workers specializing in mental health in London’s Kensington and Chelsea borough. Frank Arthur Bailey was born on this day in 1925 in British Guiana (now Guyana), South America. He attended local schools and then took a job on a German trade ship, which brought him to New York. There he found work in a hospital where he staged a walkout in protest of the institution’s separate dining rooms for different types of employees. The subsequent integration of the dining facilities proved just one of Bailey’s many successful challenges to an unequal status quo. Bailey moved to London in 1953 and caught wind that Black people were not being hired by the city’s fire service. Not one to stand idly by in the face of injustice, Bailey applied to join the West Ham Fire Brigade and made history when he was accepted into service. A lifelong advocate for workers’ rights, Bailey became a union branch representative before the repeated denial of promotions pushed him to leave his post in 1965. Bailey then transitioned into social work and became the first Black legal advisor for Black youths at Marylebone Magistrates Court. His daughter Alexis Bailey said: "I’m very proud of my dad. He spent his whole life fighting against injustice and he never gave up. He taught me to challenge things I believe are wrong and stand up for myself and others, even when it scares me." What the artist Nicole Miles had to say? As a Caribbean person living in the UK, it's inspiring and relatable to see how immigrants (especially from my tiny corner of the world) have given so much of themselves to their various adopted homes. With this project, not only was Frank Bailey a Black person living in Britain, he was from Guyana (which is considered culturally Caribbean), and that link was interesting to me among other little connections I discovered when researching him. Happy Birthday, Frank Bailey. Your actions continue to encourage others to never give up in the fight for equality for all.

A short introduction to the musical genre of Lovers Rock... Search IBHM-UK to find our specially curated playlist of 'Lovers Rock' and to hear the soundtrack to Steve McQueen's anthology film 'Lovers Rock'. https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7y2tmPm6yHr8iPaGTzEDih?si=g3OjExdhRfmQPT3upWjCdA

Black History Month UK 2021 'Black to the Past' campaign - African Romans in Britain By its very design, the Roman Empire was an extremely diverse and multicultural place. Through trade, logistical or military movements, civilian migrations both voluntary and forced, people travelled within an Empire that ruled one-fifth of the ancient global population. Burial remains and tomb inscriptions demonstrate the diversity of Roman Britain. Inscriptions carved into stone to commemorate the dead on tombs, or to record who set up an altar to the gods, show that people came not only from Italy, but also from Gaul, North Africa and Spain; in the later Roman period new troops were recruited from Germany and even from beyond the frontiers of the Empire. The Roman conquest of Britain led to the migration of many soldiers and administrators, merchants and also women and children. Evidence suggests that, over time, these newcomers and the local population intermarried, and that the populations in major urban and military sites were very diverse. In 1901, a group of Roman graves were found by workmen cutting a line for a new railway on Sycamore Terrace. The area was once part of a sprawling cemetery on the fringes of Eboracum, Roman York. One of the richest graves found, was a high status Christian woman buried in a stone coffin with luxury goods including jewellery made from elephant ivory and Whitby jet. For over a century, the female nicknamed the 'Ivory Bangle Lady' was interpreted as an important Christian woman of Roman York, but little consideration was given to her origins. In 2010, a team of archaeologists from the University of Reading re-examined her skeletal remains and their findings challenged assumptions about the diversity of the ancient Roman city. Hella Eckhardt, senior lecturer at the department of archaeology at Reading University, said. "In the case of York, the Roman population may have had more diverse origins than the city has now." Using ancestry assessment, they found that the skeleton of the Ivory Bangle Lady was a young woman aged between 18-23 years with a mixture of 'black' and 'white' ancestral traits. Isotope analysis revealed that she had spent her early years in a warmer climate, while her skull shape suggested she had some North African ancestry. Taken together with the evidence of an unusual burial rite and grave goods, the evidence all pointed to a high-status incomer to Roman York. It seems likely that the Ivory Bangle Lady was of North African descent and may have migrated to York from somewhere warmer, possibly the Mediterranean. The Ivory Bangle Lady had one of the richest graves and was buried with bracelets, earrings, pendants, beads, a blue glass jug, likely to contain cosmetics or perfume, and a glass mirror. The most famous object was a rectangular openwork mount of bone, possibly from an unrecorded wooden casket, which read "Hail, sister, may you live in God," indicating Christian beliefs. All suggesting that she held a high-ranking position within Roman York. Dr Hella Eckardt, Senior Lecturer at the University of Reading, said: "Multi-cultural Britain is not just a phenomenon of more modern times. Analysis of the ‘Ivory Bangle Lady' and others like her, contradicts common popular assumptions about the make up of Roman-British populations as well as the view that African immigrants in Roman Britain were of low status, male and likely to have been slaves." The skeleton and the grave goods of the Ivory Bangle Lady are on display in the Yorkshire Museum.