Sam Allardyce was a happy man this week, and made several others unhappy--or at rather his Premier League division team did. No, this isn't really a football story (football that is, not American football).
A Sunderland footballer who refused to fight in the First World War on religious grounds ended up in a castle cell and a court martial and could never resume his playing career. TONY HENDERSON reports.
Graffiti left on cell walls by First World War conscientious objectors – including a Sunderland FC player – is to be preserved after the award of a major conservation grant.
Sunderland centre forward Norman Gaudie, from East Boldon, was one of 16 men who refused to participate in the war and were imprisoned in Richmond Castle in North Yorkshire.A brief history of conscientious objection is here. Is this fair? Is it fair to excuse someone from combat based on a religious test, compared to someone who has a political objection?
Ultimately, he never dropped the ball.
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