A CAMPAIGN to erect a statue of a pioneering sportsman in a North-East market town is a step closer to reaching its goal.

The Arthur Wharton Foundation is only £20,000 short of its target, after two as yet unnamed benefactors donated £5,000 to the project. A further two donors have also pledged major sums.

Arthur Wharton played for Darlington for four years from 1884. The Ghanaian-born goalkeeper became the world’s first black professional footballer, and also set the world record for the 100 yard sprint.

To mark the significance of Wharton’s contribution to the sporting world, Darlington businessman Shaun Campbell launched the statue campaign.

Among its hundreds of supporters, the campaign lists the names of pop legend Stevie Wonder and England football captain Rio Ferdinand.

Mr Campbell, who runs Drum Art Furniture, hopes to raise the additional £20,000 by next week.

Meeting that deadline would enable him to order work to start on the 15ft bronze statue, with the aim of a July delivery.

But Mr Campbell expects the fundraising to take a little longer and hopes to have the statue in Darlington by October 28, Wharton’s birthday.

“I could order it tomorrow, but that would put all the pressure on to raise the final amount by July,” he said.

“That would make me and the other trustees liable, and that wouldn’t be right.

“I’m going to wait until we have all the money before commissioning the statue. It is just around the corner though, so we are all getting very excited.”

Mr Campbell said that while he has had offers from landowners to house the statue, the foundation was yet to make a final decision on where it will reside permanently.

Mr Campbell said: “There is no panic to find a site. It could spend three months outside Darlington Town Hall, three months outside the town’s arena, it could even spend time in Preston, where Arthur also played.”

If you would like to support the campaign, call Mr Campbell on 01325-362363, or visit arthurwharton.com where users can sign up to regular updates.