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Andrew Watson: The 'most influential' black footballer for decades lost to history

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  By Andrew Aloia BBC Sport Last updated on 11 October 2021 11 October 2021 . From the section Football Watson was a trailblazer who helped transform how football was played There are two murals of black footballers facing one another across an alleyway in Glasgow. One helped shape football as we know it, the other is Pele. Andrew Watson captained Scotland to a 6-1 win over England on his debut in 1881. He was a pioneer, the world's first black international, but for more than a century the significance of his achievements went unrecognised. Research conducted over the past three decades has left us with some biographical details: a man descended of slaves and of those who enslaved them, born in Guyana, raised to become an English gentleman and famed as one of Scottish football's first icons. And yet today, 100 years on from his death aged 64, Watson remains something of an enigma, the picture built around him a fractured one. His grainy, faded, sepia image evokes many differen...

Mali Islamists seize town amid French intervention

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Mali Islamists seize town amid French intervention The BBC's Mark Doyle reports from the Mali capital Bamako, where he is one of the few correspondents on the ground Continue reading the main story Mali: Divided nation Risky move? Who's who? Ansar Dine leader Mali profile Islamist fighters in Mali have seized a town in government-controlled territory amid a military intervention by France. French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said Diabaly, 400km (250 miles) from the capital, Bamako, was taken in a counter-attack on Monday. Mr Le Drian insisted France's campaign was "developing favourably". He said Islamists had retreated in the east but admitted French forces were facing a "difficult" situation against well-armed rebels in western areas. Aid workers said many people had been fleeing areas targeted by the French. The UN Security Council is due to discuss Mali later on Monday. Continue reading the main story “ ...

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