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...

One store left standing as police seize counterfeit goods estimated at R24.5m in Joburg CBD

 

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Police seized counterfeit goods with an estimated value of  R24.5 million in Jeppe Street on Friday.
Police seized counterfeit goods with an estimated value of R24.5 million in Jeppe Street on Friday.
SAPS

Amid the chaos as police and SARS custom officials raided stores in the heart of the Johannesburg CBD on Friday, suspected of selling counterfeit goods with an estimated value of R24.5 million, only one shop remained standing. 

The shop owner, who did not want to be named, told News24 that it was heartbreaking to see his fellow shop owners getting their goods confiscated.

He said that his store, which primarily sold shoes and home decor, was left standing because he did not sell counterfeit goods. 

"What is happening here is very sad, I have had a shop here for 20 years, and it's sad to see my neighbours getting their things taken," he said.

On Friday, about 100 shop owners and workers watched on in disbelief and anger as hundreds of "designer" shoes and apparel were loaded into trucks in the infamous Jeppe Street. 

"Police executed a search and seizure order from the court after information was received about the buildings that are storing illegitimate goods in Johannesburg. Goods confiscated consist of local and international brands of sneakers and clothes," said police spokesperson Lieutenant-Colonel Mavela Masondo. 

A heavily armed contingent of JMPD and SAPS officers blocked off a portion of the street as the goods were loaded onto trucks.

Chaos broke out when law enforcement first arrived and had rocks thrown at them. 

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