December 11, 1968: England Football's 1st Black Player

December 11, 1968: The England national football team play Bulgaria to a 1-1 draw, at the old Wembley Stadium in London. Georgi Asparuhov of Levski Sofia scored for Bulgaria in the 32nd minute, while Geoff Hurst of West Ham United equalized for England in the 36th. (Asparuhov was killed in a car crash in 1971, while still an active player. Levski's stadium is named for him.)

In the 80th minute, right back Keith Newton of Blackburn Rovers was substituted, substitutions having recently been legalized. His replacement was Paul Reaney of Leeds United. This made Reaney the 1st black player for the England senior team.

Usually, that distinction is credited to Viv Anderson of Nottingham Forest, also a right back, in England's 1-0 win over Czechoslovakia on November 29, 1978. Anderson is, however, the 1st black player to start for England.

Paul Reaney was born on October 22, 1944 in Fulham, West London. He was the right back on the Leeds United teams that won the League in 1969 and 1974, and the FA Cup in 1972. As he was mixed-race, and comparatively light-skinned, he faced little abuse, because most fans thought he was white. Although the Yorkshire club were known as "Dirty Leeds" for their foul play, Reaney was not known as a dirty player.

Leeds had previously made a gesture toward advancement for black players in 1961, by signing Albert Johanneson (1940-1995), from South Africa. The left winger made the senior team in 1963, and in 1965, he became the 1st black player to appear in the FA Cup Final, which Leeds lost to Liverpool. Reaney also played in that game. While black players would become more common in England in the 1970s, it would take until the 1980s before teams would find success with racially integrated lineups.

A broken leg in 1970, and Newton's development into a top player at Everton, meant that in-game England opportunities for Reaney were limited. His injury kept him out of both the FA Cup Final and the World Cup in 1970, and he only made 2 more appearances for England. After retiring in 1981, he became an athletic counselor at a children's camp in Derbyshire.

Frank Soo (1914-1991), an inside left for Stoke City, and a Derbyshire native of Chinese descent, was the first player of an ethnic minority background to represent England, doing so 9 times, though these were all in unofficial matches during World War II.

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December 11, 1968 was a Wednesday. Baseball was out of season. Football was in midweek. There were 5 games in the NBA:

* The New York Knicks lost to the Baltimore Bullets, 118-110 at the Baltimore Civic Center (now the CFG Bank Arena).

* The Philadelphia 76ers beat the Phoenix Suns, 143-123 at The Spectrum in Philadelphia.

* The Cincinnati Royals beat the San Diego Rockets, 116-110 at the Cincinnati Gardens. Oscar Robertson scored 34 points for the Royals. Elvin Hayes had 35 points and 20 rebounds in defeat for the Rockets.

* The Boston Celtics beat the Detroit Pistons, 108-106 at Cobo Hall (now Huntington Place) in Detroit.

* And the Milwaukee Bucks beat the San Francisco Warriors, 106-96 at the Milwaukee Exposition & Convention Center Arena, a.k.a. The MECCA. (Since 2014, it has been named the UW-Panther Arena.)

There were 3 games in the American Basketball Association:

* The Kentucky Colonels beat the Houston Mavericks, 106-99 at Freedom Hall in Louisville, Kentucky.

* The Indiana Pacers beat the Miami Floridians, 117-100 at the Indiana State Fairgrounds Coliseum (now the Corteva Coliseum) in Indianapolis.

* And the Los Angeles Stars beat the Minnesota Pipers, 124-116 at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena. Connie Hawkins of the Pipers led all scorers on the night, with 47 points.

And there were 5 games in the NHL:

* The New York Rangers and the Boston Bruins played to a tie, 2-2 at Madison Square Garden.

* The Montreal Canadiens and the Toronto Maple Leafs played to a tie, 4-4 at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto. 

* The Chicago Black Hawks beat the St. Louis Blues, 6-3 at the Chicago Stadium.

* The Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Minnesota North Stars, 4-2 at the Metropolitan Sports Center in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota.

* The Los Angeles Kings beat the Detroit Red Wings, 6-3 at The Forum outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California.

* And the Philadelphia Flyers and the Oakland Seals were not scheduled.