9:00am Thursday 3rd December 2009
By Jim Entwistle
ONE of the region’s most famous breweries is to make a beer in memory of North-East sporting pioneer Arthur Wharton.
Money raised from every bottle and pint of Camerons’ Arthur Wharton ale will be donated to a campaign to build a statue of the Ghanaian goalkeeper in Darlington, where he played.
Wharton, born in 1865 – the same year Camerons starting brewing at the Lion Brewery in Hartlepool – was the world’s first black professional footballer.
He also played in Newcastle, and represented the region in athletics – while living in the North-East, he set the world 100-yard record.
Camerons is still deciding on the recipe for the beer and the packaging is yet to be finalised.
But Darlington businessman Shaun Campbell, founder of the Arthur Wharton Foundation, said he was looking forward to seeing the beer in stores nationwide, as Camerons supplies Tesco among other outlets.
“It is a significant development in our long-term goal to ensure that Arthur Wharton has a lasting legacy that can benefit the people of the North-East, as well as the rest of the world,” he said “I’m hoping the beer bottle will have testimonials on its label from footballers who have backed the campaign, giving positive messages about Arthur Wharton.”
Manchester United and England defender Rio Ferdinand, former Newcastle striker Andy Cole and former Middlesbrough assistant manager Viv Anderson are among the high-profile supporters of the foundation.
Mr Campbell travelled to London for the Score 4 Africa awards on Monday evening.
At the ceremony, he displayed a scale-model of the proposed statue of Wharton and images of celebrities who have backed the campaign.
Among those he introduced to the campaign were Chelsea winger Salomon Kalou and Sven-Goran Eriksson’s former girlfriend Nancy Dell’Olio.
“It attracted a lot of attention,”
said Mr Campbell.
“A lot of people were wanting to be photographed with the statue and I met a lot of influential people in the world of sport and beyond.
“I think people were genuinely shocked that Arthur Wharton is yet to be commemorated.”
For more information on the campaign, visit arthur wharton.com
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