Billy Armfield

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Billy Armfield
Personnel
Surname William Christopher Wassell Armfield
birthday July 7, 1903
place of birth Handsworth ,  England
date of death 4th quarter 1985
Place of death Birmingham ,  England
position Winger (right)
Men's
Years station Games (goals) 1
George Ellison
1922-1929 Aston Villa 12 0(2)
1929-1932 Exeter City 72 (14)
1932-1933 Gillingham FC 30 0(7)
1933 Brierley Hill Alliance 0 0(0)
1 Only league games are given.

William Christopher Wassell "Billy" Armfield (born July 7, 1903 in Handsworth , † 4th quarter 1985 in Birmingham ) was an English football player . The mostly used as right winger Armfield played 114 games (23 goals) in the divisions of the Football League between 1924 and 1933 . After an injury sustained in 1933, his right leg had to be amputated.

Career

Armfield played for the works team George Ellison , a manufacturer of electrical switches from Birmingham , and also made an appearance at Villa Park when he and his team won 2: 4 in the final of the Dewar Shields , a competition for works teams, Lucas's in late December 1921 was subject. As a result, he was signed by the Birmingham first division Aston Villa , in March 1922, his name appears for the first time in a match report from Villa's reserve team. Armfield was not the first player to move from George Ellison to Villa, a few years earlier the defender Percy Jones went the same way.

At Aston Villa Armfield never got beyond the role of supplementary player in the following years, which was mainly due to the constancy of the also from Handsworth national player Dicky York , who occupied the right wing position in the team for years. Armfield therefore played in the seven years of his club membership only twelve league games - never more than three per season; in the 1927/28 season he scored his only two first division goals. In April 1925 he took part in a selection game for an upcoming Junior International against Scotland, but was not selected for the international match.

Armfield, who stood out for his speed, ball control and as a dangerous flanker, was put on the transfer list by Villa in 1929 with a requested transfer fee of £ 750, before a committee of the Football League Armfield successfully pushed through his request for a free transfer and made a move a little later to Exeter City to the Third Division South . In his first season Armfield came after his debut in November 1929 because of a shoulder injury sustained in January 1930 to only seven missions. In the following season , he ousted right winger George Purcell , who moved to the right half-forward position. The duo played a major role at Exeter's successful performance in the FA Cup in 1930/31 than by victories over Northfleet United , Coventry City , Derby County (1 goal by Armfield) Bury FC and Leeds United (2 goals by Armfield) of the first-time entry into the Quarterfinals succeeded. There they reached a 1-1 draw at the first division AFC Sunderland , only in the replay in front of over 20,000 spectators, record attendance to this day, in the completely filled St. James' Park the cup adventure for the line-up Arthur Davies - Dickie Baugh , Charlie Miller - Nobby ended Clarke , Jack Angus , Stan Barber -Armfield, George Purcell, Percy Varco , Harold Houghton , Dick Doncaster with a 2-4 loss. It wasn't until 50 years later that Exeter managed to reach the quarterfinals again.

From Fred Mavin , a former coach of Exeter, he was just like his strike partner Purcell in the summer of 1932 to league rivals FC Gillingham fetched. At Gillingham he belonged to the regular squad for the majority of the 1932/33 season (30 appearances / 7 goals), the team was particularly strong in home games and only stayed in the first home game without scoring their own. Despite a seventh place in the final table, he was not committed beyond the end of the season. Armfield found a new club with the Brierley Hill Alliance playing in the Birmingham & District League . Armfield broke his right leg in an internal test match just days after signing in August 1933. Because of the serious injury Brierley Hill carried out against the third team of Aston Villa in September 1933 a charity game in his favor. In October 1933, his leg had to be amputated as a result of the injury.

After his soccer career, he earned his living as a salesman. In his spare time, despite his handicap, he was active as a bowl player and cyclist.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Life data according to the English National Football Archive (ENFA) , accessed on July 7, 2019
  2. ↑ gracesguide.co.uk: George Ellison retrieved on July 7, 2019
  3. ↑ DEWAR SHIELD. ELLISON'S LOSE GOALKEEPER AND THE GAME. . In: Birmingham Daily Gazette , December 29, 1921, p. 6.  (paid link)
  4. ↑ CENTRAL LEAGUE. Junior Scores Five Goals for Villa Reserves. . In: Athletic News , March 27, 1922, p. 3.  (link subject to charge)
  5. ↑ THE WORKS FA . In: Sports Argus , April 14, 1923, p. 6.  (link with costs)
  6. ^ Tony Matthews: The Complete Encyclopaedia of Aston Villa Football Club . Britespot Publishing, Cradley Heath 2001, ISBN 0-9539288-3-7 , pp. 8 .
  7. ↑ cf. Rob Bishop, Frank Holt: Aston Villa - The Complete Record . DB Publishing, Derby 2010, ISBN 978-1-85983-805-1 , pp. 386 ff .
  8. ↑ JUNIOR INTERNATIONAL TRIAL. . In: Birmingham Daily Gazette , April 3, 1925, p. 4.  (paid link)
  9. ↑ JUNIOR 'NATIONAL. . In: Dundee Courier , April 18, 1925, p. 6.  (paid link)
  10. ↑ a b c grecianarchive.exeter.ac.uk: Armfield, William , accessed July 7, 2019
  11. ↑ EXETER CITY START . In: Western Times , August 16, 1929, p. 12.  (paid link)
  12. ↑ TRANSFER FEES. . In: Athletic News , August 12, 1929, p. 7.  (link subject to charge)
  13. ↑ Maurice Golesworthy, Garth Dykes, Alex Wilson: Exeter City: A Complete Record, 1904–1990 . Breedon Books, Derby 1990, ISBN 0-907969-68-2 , pp. 67 .
  14. ↑ Maurice Golesworthy, Garth Dykes, Alex Wilson: Exeter City: A Complete Record, 1904–1990 . Breedon Books, Derby 1990, ISBN 0-907969-68-2 , pp. 20 .
  15. ↑ On The Move . In: Sunderland Daily Echo and Shipping Gazette , June 23, 1932, p. 10.  (paid link)
  16. ↑ EXETER MASTERS. PENALTY THRILL AT GILLINGHAM . In: Western Morning News , October 24, 1932, p. 10.  (link with costs)
  17. ^ Andy Bradley, Roger Triggs: Home of the Shouting Men: Complete History of Gillingham Football Club 1893-1993 . Gillingham Football Club, Gillingham 1994, ISBN 978-0-9523361-0-5 , pp. 95 ff .
  18. ↑ FOOTBALLER'S INJURY . In: Birmingham Daily Gazette , August 21, 1933, p. 4.  (paid link)
  19. ↑ VILLA WIN BENEFIT MATCH . In: Birmingham Daily Gazette , September 12, 1933, p. 12.  (paid link)
  20. ↑ Punts Points and Passes . In: Star Green 'un , October 21, 1933, p. 1.  (link subject to charge)
personal data
SURNAME Armfield, Billy
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Armfield, William Christopher Wassell
BRIEF DESCRIPTION English soccer player
DATE OF BIRTH July 7, 1903
PLACE OF BIRTH Handsworth
DATE OF DEATH between October 1985 and December 1985
Place of death Birmingham