Gil Scot Heron passed away last night and with all the tributes flowing in has been the unearthing of the ermarkable fact that his dad used to play for Celtic and in doing so became the first black footballer ever to don the hoops.
From Wiki
Gil Heron (9 April 1922 – 27 November 2008) was a Jamaican professional footballer. He was the first black player to play for Scottish club Celtic, and was the father of poet and musicianGil Scott-Heron.
He died in Detroit of a heart attack on 27 November 2008.[1]
Career
A centre forward, Heron was born in Kingston, Jamaica, moved to Canada as a youth and was later enlisted in the Canadian Air Force. As well as being an athlete and a boxer, he played football and broke through during his stay there. He signed for Detroit Corinthians and the champion Detroit Wolverines, where he was top goalscorer in the 1946 season of the North American Professional Soccer League.[2]
He was spotted by a scout from Celtic while the club was on tour in North America, and he was signed by the Scottish club in 1951 after being invited over for a trial. Heron went on to score on his debut, on 18 August 1951 in a League Cup tie against Morton that Celtic won 2-0. Heron only played five first-team matches in all, scoring twice.[3] He was released by the club the next year and joined Third Lanark, and then English club Kidderminster Harriers before moving back to Detroit Corinthians. At Celtic he earned the nicknames The Black Arrow and The Black Flash.[4]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGaRtqrlGy8&feature=list_related&playnext=1&list=AVGxdCwVVULXdjD4Jm0w8ZRMP7Rk3Ln7f6[/youtube]
