Lloyd Lindbergh "Lindy" Delapenha (20 May 1927 – 26 January 2017) was a Jamaican

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

and sports journalist. He was the first Jamaican to play professional football in England. Between 1948 and 1960, he played league football for

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ), colloquially known as Boro, is a port town in the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Lying to the south of the River Tees, Middlesbrough forms part of the Teesside Built up area, built-up area and the Tees Va ...

and

Mansfield Town Mansfield Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the third level of the English football league system. The club was formed in 1897 as Mans ...

. Despite limited appearances for Portsmouth in the 1948/1949 and 1949/1950 seasons, he nevertheless played a part in the club's two title-winning sides and with it became the first black player to win a First Division championship medal.

Playing career

Delapenha started playing competitive football at the age of 11 when he played for

Wolmer's Schools Wolmer's Schools, also referred to as Wolmer's Trust Group of Schools, is located in Kingston, Jamaica and currently consists of Wolmer's Pre-School, Wolmer's Preparatory School and two high schools: Wolmer's Trust High School for Boys and Wolmer ...

. He scored his first goal for Wolmer's against

St. George's College, Jamaica St. George's College is a State school, public Catholic school, Catholic secondary school, located in Kingston, Jamaica, Kingston, Jamaica. The school was founded by the Society of Jesus in 1850. It was established by 21 Spanish Jesuits who had ...

in the Manning Cup competition. Delapenha then attended

Munro College Munro College is a boarding school for boys in St Elizabeth, Jamaica. It was founded in 1856 as the Potsdam School (named for the city of Potsdam), a school for boys in St. Elizabeth as stipulated in the will of plantation owners Robert Hugh Munr ...

in Jamaica where he was a multi-sport athlete. As a schoolboy, Delapenha took part in 16 events over a one-and-a-half-day period in England. He then served with the

British Armed Forces The British Armed Forces are the unified military, military forces responsible for the defence of the United Kingdom, its British Overseas Territories, Overseas Territories and the Crown Dependencies. They also promote the UK's wider interests ...

in the Middle East following

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. During his service, an English football scout saw him playing football for the British Army. This gained him a trial with

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

, but he did not sign for the club, and in April 1948 he joined

. There, he became the first Jamaican to play professional football in England. Although it is claimed he was the first non-white player to appear in the English

Football League First Division The Football League First Division was the top division of the Football League in England from 1888 until the end of the 1991–92 season, when its teams broke away to form the Premier League. From 1992 to 2004, the name First Division was g ...

, he was actually predated by several other non-white players, including

Arthur Wharton Arthur Wharton (28 October 1865 – 12 December 1930) was a British footballer. He is widely considered to be the first black professional footballer in the world. Though not the first black player outright – the amateurs Robert Walker, of Q ...

, who played a First Division match for

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The club competes in the Championship, the second tier of English football. They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history ...

as far back as 1894–95. He was, however, the first Black player at several of the clubs he played for: Portsmouth (debut, 13 November 1948); Middlesbrough (debut, 6 May 1950); Mansfield Town (debut, 23 August 1958); and Burton Albion (debut, 18 August 1962). In April 1950, after a successful few years with Portsmouth, he transferred to

where his career took off. He played on the wing or inside-forward, and became Boro's leading scorer in the 1951–52, 1953–54 and 1955–56 seasons. In total he scored 93 league and

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

goals in 270 appearances. He moved to

in June 1958, contributing 27 goals in 115 appearances over two years, before retiring from League football in 1960. Delapenha played non-league football,

Hereford United Hereford United Football Club was an association football club based in Hereford, England. They played at Edgar Street for their entire history. They were nicknamed 'The Whites' or 'The Lilywhites', after their predominantly white kit, or 'Th ...

and Burton Albion. He won the Southern League Cup in 1964 with Burton.

Later life

Having returned to Jamaica in 1964, Delapenha played

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

for a short time and represented Boys' Town at football, taking them from Division 3 up to Division 1. He also coached his

alma mater Alma mater (; : almae matres) is an allegorical Latin phrase meaning "nourishing mother". It personifies a school that a person has attended or graduated from. The term is related to ''alumnus'', literally meaning 'nursling', which describes a sc ...

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competitio ...

and football in the mid 1960s. Soon after, he became director of sports at the

Jamaica Broadcasting Corporation The Jamaica Broadcasting Corporation (JBC) was a public broadcasting company in Jamaica, founded in 1959 by premier Norman Manley, with the aim of emulating the success of other national broadcasting companies such as the BBC and CBC.Thomas, Prad ...

. At the JBC, he had various roles including co-ordinating coverage of cricket, the

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games is a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations, which consists mostly, but not exclusively, of territories of the former British Empire. The event was first held in 1930 ...

, and helped bring international football to Jamaica. He stayed there for 30 years before JBC was sold and his services were no longer required. He died on 26 January 2017 at the age of 89, after a stroke.Lindy Delapenha is dead
''Jamaica Observer''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Delapenha, Lindy 1927 births 2017 deaths Jamaican men's footballers Burton Albion F.C. players Mansfield Town F.C. players Middlesbrough F.C. players Portsmouth F.C. players Hereford United F.C. players Expatriate men's footballers in England Men's association football forwards Sportspeople from Spanish Town Footballers from Saint Catherine Parish People educated at Munro College English Football League players 20th-century Jamaican sportsmen