Meet the trailblazing footballer who turned his back on fortune and fame for a life in WWI’s trenches.

Could you see Frank Lampard fighting with the Infantry soldiers in Afghanistan? How about Steven Gerrard in the pilot’s seat of an Apache helicopter on operations? It’s hard to imagine but almost 100 years ago Walter Tull, a top footballer, swapped the training grounds for WWI battlegrounds by joining the British Army.

Second Lieutenant Tull was not only an outstanding soldier, he was a trailblazer. He was the second black man to play football at top level in England and one of the first black officers in the British Army, at a time when ‘men of colour’ were not supposed to hold senior ranks.

"Walter was such
an impressive soldier
that the Army's rules
were overlooked"

Kicking off a career

Even with a difficult start in life, Walter overcame the odds to meet his goals.