The belief that Hunslet may, after having fielded the first black professional Rugby League player when American Lucius Banks signed in 1912, have also registered the second – in Cec Thompson in 1948 – has been put to bed.
Thompson signed for the Parksiders in 1948 but Welshman Roy Francis had, of course, played for Wigan a shade over a decade earlier.
Francis made his debut for the Pie Eaters in 1937 before transferring to Barrow and enjoying a glittering career as a high-scoring winger with, subsequently, Warrington and, notably, Hull.
He was also capped by Wales and Great Britain but perhaps really made his mark as an innovative and very successful coach at Leeds in the late 1960s, becoming in the process the first black man to coach a professional sports team in this country.
The city of Leeds, in fact, can take pride in taking the lead in offering opportunities to black or coloured sportsmen and women.
Hunslet paved the way for players with Banks, Leeds set the agenda for coaches with Francis and Leeds United were the first soccer club to field a black player in an FA Cup Final when Albert Johanneson appeared in the 1965 Wembley clash with Liverpool.
New Zealand Maori Johnny Wilson, meanwhile, gave Bramley tremendous service in the 1950s and early 1960s, while Nicola Adams holds a special place in the city’s affections for becoming, in 2012, the first to win an Olympic gold medal in women’s boxing, and in some style.
It’s true that Roy Francis achieved success with Leeds after moving there in 1963, but his coaching career actually began 10 years earlier when he was appointed player-coach at Hull FC in the early 1950s. By the time he moved to Leeds he’d already achieved great success at Hull, including 5 successive major finals from 1955-6 to 1959-60, two of which saw Hull crowned champions.