EP 37: “Gil Heron and ‘Pito’ Villalon: Black Players Breaking Barriers in US Soccer”

On Friday, February 20, 2026, Jermaine Scott, professor of history at Florida Atlantic University, Maxwell Murray of Detroit City FC and the Urban Football League, and SASH board member Chuck Carlson presented a SASH Session about two Black soccer players who broke racial barriers in US during the 1940’s and 1950’s.

Murray and Carlson discuss the Jamaica-born Gil Heron. In addition to playing for Ontario, Detroit, and Chicago sides, Heron was the first Black player signed by Glasgow Celtic.

Scott discusses the American Soccer League’s first Black player, Jesus “Pito” Villalon, who was born in Cuba before playing in the US. You can see footage of Villalon in action playing for the Kearny All Stars against Scotland on June 5, 1949 on the SASH YouTube channel at https://youtu.be/QdXXEYZ9dy8.

The session includes discussion of Villalon and Heron’s lives on and off the field, and also explored broader issues of race in soccer in the US, including the team selection of the US Men’s National Team for the 1950 World Cup in Brazil.

Podcast produced by Brian Quarstad.

Music created by LiteSaturation and found at Pixabay.

View the video of the session at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6cCsZCxPAo

Visit the SASH website at https://www.ussoccerhistory.org/

Join SASH at https://www.ussoccerhistory.org/store/sash-membership-one-year/