Former Northampton player’s bravery before his death in the first world war was never recognised but now there is hope the trailblazer may posthumously be awarded the military cross
For the best part of 80 years, it was not just the body of the British Army’s first black officer that lay buried in the killing fields of northern France. Walter Tull, born in Folkestone to a Bajan carpenter and English mother in 1888, had also played as an inside forward for Tottenham and Northampton before the first world war. He died on 25 March 1918 near the village of Favreuil in the Pas-de-Calais region - one of 250,000 allied troops to perish during the spring offensive.
A series of events in Northampton this weekend will mark the centenary of his death, with the Football League backing a government-led project that celebrates Tull’s legacy. Starting on Monday, Tull 100 will offer small-scale funding to local groups in an effort to increase participation in sport among ethnic minority groups.
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