William Kirby (footballer, born 1883)

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William Kirby
Kirby while with Portsmouth in 1907.
Personal information
Full name William Kirby[1]
Date of birth 21 June 1883[2]
Place of birth Preston, England[2]
Date of death 3 October 1917(1917-10-03) (aged 34)[3]
Place of death Polygon Wood, Passchendaele salient, Belgium[2]
Position(s) Inside left
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1899–1900 Emmanuel Rovers
1900–1913 Preston North End 55 (22)
1901–1902 → Oswaldtwistle Rovers (loan)
1902–1903 → Swindon Town (loan) 28 (6)
1903–1904 → West Ham United (loan) 33 (10)
1904–1905 → Swindon Town (loan) 19 (2)
1905–1911 → Portsmouth (loan) 224 (81)
1913 Exeter City 5 (0)
1913–1914 Merthyr Town 24 (4)
1916 Croydon Common 16 (6)
1916–1917 Brentford 18 (2)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

William Kirby (21 June 1883 – 3 October 1917), sometimes known as Bill Kirby or 'Sunny Jim' Kirby, was an English professional footballer, who played as an inside left and is best remembered for his time in the Southern League with Portsmouth, for whom he made over 270 appearances in all competitions. He also played in the Football League for hometown club Preston North End.[1]

Career[edit]

Born in Preston, Lancashire, Kirby started his career at Emmanuel Rovers and joined First Division club Preston North End in November 1900.[2][4] He would not play competitively for Preston until 1911, but the club kept his registration and he spent much of the next decade on loan to Southern League clubs.[5]

After a season at Oswaldtwistle Rovers, Kirby joined Southern League First Division club Swindon Town as a half-back in August 1902.[6] The following season, he joined West Ham United and played mainly as an outside-right, but also made three appearances as a centre-forward.[citation needed] He scored on his debut, against Millwall, and missed just one game that season, the final game against Swindon Town.[7]

After returning to Swindon Town for another season,[8] he moved to Portsmouth, where he would spend the next seven seasons.[2] He was Portsmouth's top scorer in 1906–07, when the club finished as runners-up in the Southern League First Division.[2] By October 1910, he had scored 100 goals and received a £220 benefit from the club.[2] West Ham United In all Kirby scored 81 goals in 224 Southern League appearances, as well as 22 goals in 36 Western League appearances and four in 12 FA Cup outings.[2]

Kirby was re-called by Preston for the 1911–12 season, where he was top scorer and earned a Second Division championship medal.[5]

He then had spells at Exeter City, Merthyr Town and Croydon Common, playing in their last ever match, before spending the 1916–17 season at Brentford.[2]

Military career and death[edit]

Kirby served in the Royal Engineers during the First World War, prior to being invalided out and working at the Royal Arsenal.[2] He re-enlisted in 1917 and saw action with the 6th (Pioneer) Battalion, attached to the East Yorkshire Regiment, at the Battle of Polygon Wood (part of the Battle of Passchendaele).[9] He was killed in action during the offensive in October of that year.[10] He is buried at Bard Cottage Cemetery in West Flanders, Belgium.[11][3]

Honours[edit]

Preston North End

Career statistics[edit]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League FA Cup Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Preston North End 1911–12[2] First Division 38 14 1 0 39 14
1912–13[2] Second Division 17 8 0 0 17 8
Total 55 22 1 0 56 22
Swindon Town (loan) 1902–03[8] Southern League First Division 28 6 5 5 33 11
West Ham United (loan) 1903–04[12] Southern League First Division 33 10 3 1 36 11
Swindon Town (loan) 1904–05[8] Southern League First Division 19 2 2 2 21 4
Swindon Town Total 47 8 7 7 54 15
Portsmouth (loan) 1904–05[2] Southern League First Division 11 2 — 11 2
1905–06[2] 28 6 1 1 29 7
1906–07[2] 36 21 3 1 39 22
1907–08[2] 36 11 2 0 38 11
1908–09[2] 38 11 3 2 41 13
1909–10[2] 41 21 2 0 43 21
1910–11[2] 34 9 1 0 35 9
Total 224 81 12 4 236 85
Exeter City 1913–14[2] Southern League First Division 5 0 — 5 0
Merthyr Town 1913–14[2] Southern League First Division 24 4 5 2 29 6
Career Total 388 125 28 14 416 139

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b Joyce, Michael (2012). Football League Players' Records 1888 to 1939. Nottingham: Tony Brown. p. 165. ISBN 978-1905891610.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v "Biographies – William Kirby" (PDF). Croydon Common Football Club. Retrieved 12 November 2018.
  3. ^ a b "Casualty Details". Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Retrieved 11 November 2018.
  4. ^ "Kirby Billy Portsmouth 1905". Vintage Footballers. Retrieved 28 December 2018.
  5. ^ a b "Merthyr Town Players And The Great War". Merthyr Town F.C. 11 November 2016. Retrieved 11 November 2018.
  6. ^ "Saturday 30 August 1902". Wiltshire Times and Trowbridge Advertiser. 30 August 1902. p. 8. Retrieved 11 November 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive. In addition to the players mentioned in this column last week, the Swindon Town officials have since engaged another half-back, W. Kirby, of Oswald Thistle Rovers, and previously of Preston North End
  7. ^ Hogg, Tony (2005). Who's Who of West Ham United. Profile Sports Media. p. 119. ISBN 1-903135-50-8.
  8. ^ a b c "William Kirby – Player Profile". Swindon-Town-FC.co.uk. Retrieved 1 June 2017.
  9. ^ "The West Ham United players who paid the ultimate sacrifice". West Ham United. Retrieved 27 November 2020.
  10. ^ "William Kirby, a well-known Preston North Knd and Southern League player, has been killed in action". The Guardian. 30 October 1917. p. 8. Retrieved 11 November 2018 – via Newspapers.com. Free access icon
  11. ^ Kahn, Nigel. "Remembrance day: William Kirby". theyflysohigh.co.uk. Retrieved 11 November 2018.
  12. ^ "William Kirby". www.westhamstats.info. Retrieved 1 June 2017.
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