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

I gave it my utmost: Natasha Joubert on her Miss Universe performance

 

Beauty queen hopes she made SA proud despite not placing in the competition

17 May 2021 - 14:21BY TONI JAYE SINGER
Miss Universe SA Natasha Joubert has congratulated the winner and runners-up in the 69th Miss Universe pageant.
Miss Universe SA Natasha Joubert has congratulated the winner and runners-up in the 69th Miss Universe pageant.
Image: Supplied/Miss SA

SA’s Miss Universe hopeful Natasha Joubert has extended her congratulations to the victor of this year’s pageant, Andrea Meza from Mexico, saying she is a “worthy winner”.

“Andrea is going to be a wonderful Miss Universe at a time when we need it the most,” she said.

Though Joubert was hoping to inherit the crown from the outgoing queen Zozibini Tunzi  to secure coveted back-to-back wins for Mzansi, she was knocked out of the competition when the Top 21 were announced during the pageant’s finale on Sunday.

“I knew going into the competition that I had big shoes to fill and I gave it my utmost,” Joubert said. “I hope, even though I didn’t get a placing, that I did SA proud.

“I want to thank everyone for their wonderful support. The Miss Universe experience will be something I will never forget.”

“We are incredibly proud of Natasha and how she represented us and the country on the world stage,” said Stephanie Weil, CEO of the Miss SA Organisation.

“We look forward to welcoming her home where her Miss Universe SA journey will continue.”

Weil was not alone in praising Joubert’s performance, which she called “remarkable from start to finish”. Many fans have been quick to express their support for the beauty queen on social media.

Here’s a snapshot of the reactions:

• Catch a repeat of the 69th Miss Universe pageant on 1 Magic (DStv channel 103) at 9.30pm on Monday.


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