Gil Heron was the first black player to play for Celtic F.C., a Glasgow soccer club. He paved the way for other black players, most notably, Henrik Larsson.

He was born in Kingstion, Jamaica in 1922 and was spotted by a scout from Celtic, while playing for his American club Detroit Corinthians on a North American tour and was later signed up by the club in 1951. Gil went on to score on his debut, but he was released by the club the next year and joined Third Lanark and the English club Kidderminister Harriers before moving back to Detroit Corinthians.

According to this article [1], Gil Heron scored the most goals in the 1946 season of the North American Soccer Football League, playing for The Detroit Wolverines.

Gil Heron was the father of Gil Scott Heron, poet and musician, known primarily for his late 1960s and early 1970s work as a spoken word performer, associated with African American militant activists.