Billy Agnew

Billy Agnew
Personnel
Surname	William Agnew
birthday	January 9, 1898
place of birth	Pollokshaws ,  Scotland
position	Storm
Men's
Years	station	Games (goals) 1
	Pollok
1918-1920	Ayr United	25 (16)
1920-1921	FC Falkirk	21 0(7)
1921	→  FC Bo'ness  (loan)
1921-1923	Port Vale	42 0(6)
1923-1925	Arthurlie FC	75 (47)
1925-1927	Luton Town	35 0(8)
1927-1928	Providence Clamdiggers	24 0(7)
1 Only league games are given.

William "Billy" Agnew (born January 9, 1898 in Pollokshaws ; † unknown) was a Scottish football player . Active in the 1920s, the striker scored 91 goals in 222 league games for clubs in Scotland, England and the United States.

Career

Agnew played in his home near Glasgow in junior football for Pollok before 1918 by John Cameron to Ayr United in the Scottish Football League Division One was brought. There he temporarily formed the right side of the storm with James Devine, who was also previously active at Pollok . In addition, he did his military service with the Royal Scots Fusiliers in Fort Matilda , the military training is said to have had a particularly detrimental effect on his speed. Nevertheless, Agnew scored 16 goals in 25 league games in the next year and a half.In October 1918, he scored in successive games against Heart of Midlothian (3: 2, 2 goals), FC Queen's Park (2: 0, 2 goals) Goals), FC Falkirk (4: 4, 1 goal) and Hibernian Edinburgh (5: 0, 1 goal).

In January 1920, Agnew moved to league competitor FC Falkirk , and the transfer fee paid is said to have been a new club record for Falkirk. Possibly also contributed to the fact that Agnew had scored a hat trick in a 5-1 win by Ayr against Falkirk in September 1919 . He immediately moved into the team at Falkirk for a home league game against Glasgow Rangers (final score 0: 3), but subsequently did not manage to achieve a goal rate similar to Ayr and found himself increasingly in the reserve team. With this he won the Stirlingshire Cup in April 1920 at home in Brockville Park in front of 6,000 spectators , while Agnew, named in a match report as a "star striker", contributed two goals to the 3-1 win against East Stirlingshire .

In March 1921 he went to FC Bo'ness in the Central League for a few months , in which the club successfully defended its championship title. Agnew scored twice for the team in his debut game in a 3-1 win against the Dundee Hibernians . The press praised his style of play: “He's an opportunist, and this was evident in his moves that led to [...] his second goal for Bo'ness. The ball came from the left and Agnew, who tricked the defenders, quietly pushed the ball into the net out of reach of the goalkeeper. "

In September 1921, Agnew came as a test player to the English second division side Port Vale , who immediately used him in an away game against West Ham United . Despite the 3-0 defeat, Agnew apparently convinced those responsible, who paid the striker £ 150 to sign. Initially called up as a center forward, he moved to the right half- forward position in the course of the season and acted as a right winger from February. Agnew scored a brace in a 3-1 win against Bristol City in November 1921 and was described by the press as "a center forward of the strong, eager kind, but who is used as a half-forward", the attack was also because of the team-mates who were also from Scotland Attributed to Alex Lauder and Bob Connelly a "Scottish Flavor".

In terms of sport, the season was mixed, the team lacked an accurate center forward and until the beginning of February 1922 the team was bottom of the table. Only a series of nine unbeaten games, seven of them in a row without conceding a goal, ensured that the club broke away from the bottom of the table and ended the season in 18th place. In the following season he was used less often and after a cartilage operation in March 1923 he was not committed beyond the end of the season. In June 1923, Agnew was one of 17 Port Vale players found guilty of receiving unauthorized special payments in the 1921-22 season. In addition to heavy fines for Port Vale officials, a Football League committee sentenced each player involved to repayment and a £ 1 fine.

In September 1923 he joined the Scottish third division club Arthurlie , for whom he acted extremely accurately as a center forward until December 1925. In the 1923/24 season he scored 21 hits in 27 missions and thus contributed significantly to the championship and the associated promotion to Division Two. There, too, he proved to be a sure shooter and scored again 21 times in 34 league games. After a total of 47 goals in 75 championship games for Arthurlie, he moved back to England in December 1925, the southern English club Luton Town from the Third Division South was Agnew's new employer. After he had scored eight goals in 23 missions as a left half-forward during the rest of the season, he was only used sporadically in the following season 1926/27 and remained goalless in his twelve missions. The last time he came to the train in January 1927 in the first team and then had to be content with assignments in the reserve team until his departure in the summer.

For the 1927/28 season, Agnew, like numerous other Scottish footballers, went to the North American professional league American Soccer League and played there for the Providence Clamdiggers . He scored seven goals in the first seven match days, after which no further goals were added in a total of 24 appearances this season.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Life data according to the English National Football Archive (ENFA) , accessed on October 8, 2018
2. ↑ TWO JUNIORS FOR AYR UNITED . In: Daily Record , August 14, 1918, p. 7.  (paid link)
3. ↑ ^{a b} ALL SORT OF SPORTS. . In: Daily Record , December 10, 1918, p. 10.  (link subject to charge)
4. ↑ GRAND GOALKEEPERS. . In: Daily Record , September 2, 1918, p. 7.  (link subject to charge)
5. ↑ AYR UNITED 3, HEARTS (H) 2 . In: Daily Record , October 14, 1918, p. 7.  (link with costs)
6. ↑ AGNEW THE MAN AGAIN. . In: Sunday Post , October 20, 1918, p. 14.  (link with costs)
7. ↑ FALKIRK, 4; AYR UNITED, 4th . In: Sunday Post , October 27, 1918, p. 15.  (link with costs)
8. ↑ AYR UNITED NAP HAND. . In: Daily Record , November 4, 1918, p. 10.  (link subject to charge)
9. ↑ WHAT CELTS ARE SAYING ABOUT THIS WEEK'S CUP TIE. . In: Dundee Evening Telegraph , February 4, 1920, p. 11.  (paid link)
10. ↑ Falkirk Fall to Ayr. . In: Dundee Evening Telegraph , September 8, 1919, p. 5.  (paid link)
11. ↑ RANGERS 'SUCCESS AT FALKIRK. . In: Sunday Post , February 1, 1920, p. 14.  (link with costs)
12. ↑ STIRLINGSHIRE CUP FINAL. . In: Sunday Post , April 25, 1920, p. 14.  (link with costs)
13. ↑ Dundee Hibs Outclassed. . In: Dundee Evening Telegraph , March 7, 1921, p. 11.  (paid link)
14. ↑ THE "BLUES" NEW CENTER. . In: Linlithgowshire Gazette , March 11, 1921, p. 5.  (paid link)
15. ↑ PORT VALE HAMMERED. . In: Birmingham Daily Gazette , September 12, 1921, p. 6.  (paid link)
16. ↑ HAMILTON GOALKEEPER'S FINE RECORD. . In: Dundee Evening Telegraph , September 13, 1921, p. 11.  (paid link)
17. ^ The Scottish Flavor. . In: Derby Daily Telegraph , November 19, 1921, p. 4.  (paid link)
18. ↑ Jeff Kent: Port Vale Personalities - A Biographical Dictionary of Players, Officials and Supporters . Witan Books, Stafford 1996, ISBN 0-9508981-4-7 , pp. 4 .
19. ↑ Jeff Kent: The Valiants' Years: The Story of Port Vale . Witan Books, Stafford 1990, ISBN 0-9529152-0-0 , pp. 104 f .
20. ↑ BIG FOOTBALL SENSATION. . In: Daily Herald , June 15, 1923, p. 12.  (paid link)
21. ↑ FOOTBALL NEWS . In: Dundee Courier , September 18, 1923, p. 6.  (paid link)
22. ↑ See John Litster: A record of pre-war Scottish League players v2 (CD Rom), PM Publications, Norwich 2012
23. ↑ SPORTING NOTES & NEWS. . In: Northampton Chronicle and Echo , December 19, 1925, p. 3.  (paid link)
24. ↑ SEARCH FOR NEW FORWARDS. . In: Athletic News , August 8, 1927, p. 9.  (link subject to charge)
25. ^ Folkestone Defeated at Luton . In: Folkestone, Hythe, Sandgate & Cheriton Herald , March 26, 1927, p. 8.  (paid link)
26. ^ Colin Jose: The American Soccer League: The Golden Years of American Soccer 1921-1931 . Scarecrow Press, Lanham 1998, ISBN 0-8108-3429-4 , pp. 188 ff .