Peter Baines was a pioneering black footballer who played for Wrexham and other English clubs during the 1930s and 1940s, predating Liverpool's first recognised black player Howard Gayle by more than three decades. Historians and researchers have become increasingly interested in uncovering whether Baines was also the first Indigenous Australian to play football overseas, though his true origins remain shrouded in mystery and conflicting historical records.

Playing for clubs including Wrexham, Oldham, Crewe and Hartlepool, Baines scored an impressive 27 goals in 35 games during one wartime season for Wrexham and also appeared for Liverpool as a guest player. A 1944 newspaper article identified him as Australian, and some sources suggest he may have been born in Australia and transported to England as an orphan following forced assimilation policies, though other records claim he was born in Manchester. Baines died in Manchester approximately 30 years ago at age 77, and whilst some databases and historians accept his Australian heritage, definitive proof of his birthplace and Indigenous ancestry remains unconfirmed.