Past Players - Past Players 1
BILL FOULKE - THE BLADE FROM BLACKWELL
You could say that this evening's game is a belated testimonial game as part of the deal that took a giant goalkeeper from a small Derbyshire mining village football team into the glamour world of professional football. However the professional game at the end of the 18th century was nothing like the game, as we know it today. Transfers were not measured in millions but in a few pounds.
William Henry Foulke, born 12th April 1874, was the talented 19 year old goalkeeper who together with his elder brother, Tommy, was playing for Blackwell Colliery Football Club, a successful mining village football team competing in the Derbyshire league. Bill and his team mates had progressed to the final of the Derbyshire Challenge Cup Final in 1894 to face Matlock.
The referee of the final had been impressed with the young goalkeeper and alerted a Sheffield United scout who secured young Willie's signature after the game, beating off the challenge from Nottingham Forest and Derby County. The fee was £20 and Bill received £5 as a signing on fee.
Bill played for United between 1894-1904. He was a giant of a man, both in terms of his physique and his character. He joined United a mere slip of a lad, but by the time he moved to Chelsea he weighed over 22 stone! This did not prevent him from being a superb goalkeeper though.
He won one England cap, and kept a clean sheet. Many felt he should have won many more but the gentlemen of the FA were not keen on his antics. Bill was renowned for his behaviour, some famous incidents included: wading in to fight Sheffield Wednesday fans who shouted abuse at him, picking up strikers by their feet and sticking them head-first in the mud, chasing referees and falling asleep in matches when bored.
It was easy to see why Bill would be fed-up in goal. Remember the United team he played in were the best on earth: one league championship, two league runner-ups, three FA cup finals (won two), and Champions of Great Britain. Being the best team in Britain back then would have meant not only being the best team in Europe, but being the finest team in the world.
Bill was a true Blade, returning to Sheffield after his stay at Chelsea to keep a pub near Bramall Lane. A legend, in his own way a gentleman, and the best goalkeeper to grace the Bramall Lane turf.
Many thanks to Graham Phythian for the information. Graham is due to release a book on Willie Foulke shortly and it is sure to be an interesting insight to the great man.
Playing career
He played four first-class matches for Derbyshire County Cricket Club in 1900, but is remembered primarily as a goalkeeper for Sheffield United although he also played for Chelsea and Bradford City. He also won a single international cap for England in 1897 against Wales.
After being discovered playing for village side Blackwell in a Derbyshire Cup tie at Ilkeston Town, Foulke made his debut for Sheffield United against West Bromwich Albion on 1 September 1894 and led the team to three FA Cup finals (winning two) and a League Championship.
At the end of the first match in the 1902 Cup Final Foulke protested to the officials that Southampton's equalizing goal should not have been allowed. Foulke left his dressing room unclothed and pursued the referee, Tom Kirkham, who took refuge in a broom cupboard. Foulke had to be stopped by a group of F.A. officials from wrenching the cupboard door from its hinges to reach the hapless referee. In the replay, Sheffield United won 2 - 1, with Foulke being required to make several saves to keep United in the match. He was also in goal for United when they suffered an FA Cup exit to Second Division Burslem Port Vale in 1898.
He then moved to Chelsea for a fee of £50 and was made club captain. Foulke, by now was remarkably temperamental. If he thought his defenders were not trying hard enough, he would walk off the field. Opposing forwards who incurred his displeasure would be picked up and thrown bodily into his goal. He was however a great crowd puller, and Chelsea decided to exploit this. To draw even more attention to his size, they placed two small boys behind his goal in an effort to distract the opposition even more. The boys would sometimes run and return the ball when it went out of play, and quite by accident, ball boys came into being. Foulke stayed for just one season before moving to his final club, Bradford City.
Foulke died in 1916 and was buried in Burngreave cemetery, Sheffield. His death certificate gives "cirrhosis" as the major cause of death.[6] The stories of pneumonia caught whilst earning pin money at a "beat the goalie" booth on Blackpool Sands seem to be without foundation.
Foulke appears in the Mitchell and Kenyon films, playing in a match on 6 September 1902.
James Simmons
James Simmons (born in Blackwell, Bolsover, Derbyshire) was an English footballer who played forSheffield United. He was a fast and at times a brilliant player. He was a nephew of William "Fatty" Foulke but had the opposite physique.
Club career
Simmons started out with his home side, Blackwell Colliery. In 1908 he transferred to Sheffield United. He was a member of the Sheffield United team who won the FA Cup final in 1915 The Manchester Guardian stated that he was the most attractive player on the pitch and his quick attacks, which he mixed between runs down the wing and through the centre, left the Chelsea defence standing. He scored the first goal of the match just before half time when he half volleyed a cross into the top corner of the net.
Honours
Sheffield United FA Cup: Winners 1915
You could say that this evening's game is a belated testimonial game as part of the deal that took a giant goalkeeper from a small Derbyshire mining village football team into the glamour world of professional football. However the professional game at the end of the 18th century was nothing like the game, as we know it today. Transfers were not measured in millions but in a few pounds.
William Henry Foulke, born 12th April 1874, was the talented 19 year old goalkeeper who together with his elder brother, Tommy, was playing for Blackwell Colliery Football Club, a successful mining village football team competing in the Derbyshire league. Bill and his team mates had progressed to the final of the Derbyshire Challenge Cup Final in 1894 to face Matlock.
The referee of the final had been impressed with the young goalkeeper and alerted a Sheffield United scout who secured young Willie's signature after the game, beating off the challenge from Nottingham Forest and Derby County. The fee was £20 and Bill received £5 as a signing on fee.
Bill played for United between 1894-1904. He was a giant of a man, both in terms of his physique and his character. He joined United a mere slip of a lad, but by the time he moved to Chelsea he weighed over 22 stone! This did not prevent him from being a superb goalkeeper though.
He won one England cap, and kept a clean sheet. Many felt he should have won many more but the gentlemen of the FA were not keen on his antics. Bill was renowned for his behaviour, some famous incidents included: wading in to fight Sheffield Wednesday fans who shouted abuse at him, picking up strikers by their feet and sticking them head-first in the mud, chasing referees and falling asleep in matches when bored.
It was easy to see why Bill would be fed-up in goal. Remember the United team he played in were the best on earth: one league championship, two league runner-ups, three FA cup finals (won two), and Champions of Great Britain. Being the best team in Britain back then would have meant not only being the best team in Europe, but being the finest team in the world.
Bill was a true Blade, returning to Sheffield after his stay at Chelsea to keep a pub near Bramall Lane. A legend, in his own way a gentleman, and the best goalkeeper to grace the Bramall Lane turf.
Many thanks to Graham Phythian for the information. Graham is due to release a book on Willie Foulke shortly and it is sure to be an interesting insight to the great man.
Playing career
He played four first-class matches for Derbyshire County Cricket Club in 1900, but is remembered primarily as a goalkeeper for Sheffield United although he also played for Chelsea and Bradford City. He also won a single international cap for England in 1897 against Wales.
After being discovered playing for village side Blackwell in a Derbyshire Cup tie at Ilkeston Town, Foulke made his debut for Sheffield United against West Bromwich Albion on 1 September 1894 and led the team to three FA Cup finals (winning two) and a League Championship.
At the end of the first match in the 1902 Cup Final Foulke protested to the officials that Southampton's equalizing goal should not have been allowed. Foulke left his dressing room unclothed and pursued the referee, Tom Kirkham, who took refuge in a broom cupboard. Foulke had to be stopped by a group of F.A. officials from wrenching the cupboard door from its hinges to reach the hapless referee. In the replay, Sheffield United won 2 - 1, with Foulke being required to make several saves to keep United in the match. He was also in goal for United when they suffered an FA Cup exit to Second Division Burslem Port Vale in 1898.
He then moved to Chelsea for a fee of £50 and was made club captain. Foulke, by now was remarkably temperamental. If he thought his defenders were not trying hard enough, he would walk off the field. Opposing forwards who incurred his displeasure would be picked up and thrown bodily into his goal. He was however a great crowd puller, and Chelsea decided to exploit this. To draw even more attention to his size, they placed two small boys behind his goal in an effort to distract the opposition even more. The boys would sometimes run and return the ball when it went out of play, and quite by accident, ball boys came into being. Foulke stayed for just one season before moving to his final club, Bradford City.
Foulke died in 1916 and was buried in Burngreave cemetery, Sheffield. His death certificate gives "cirrhosis" as the major cause of death.[6] The stories of pneumonia caught whilst earning pin money at a "beat the goalie" booth on Blackpool Sands seem to be without foundation.
Foulke appears in the Mitchell and Kenyon films, playing in a match on 6 September 1902.
James Simmons
James Simmons (born in Blackwell, Bolsover, Derbyshire) was an English footballer who played forSheffield United. He was a fast and at times a brilliant player. He was a nephew of William "Fatty" Foulke but had the opposite physique.
Club career
Simmons started out with his home side, Blackwell Colliery. In 1908 he transferred to Sheffield United. He was a member of the Sheffield United team who won the FA Cup final in 1915 The Manchester Guardian stated that he was the most attractive player on the pitch and his quick attacks, which he mixed between runs down the wing and through the centre, left the Chelsea defence standing. He scored the first goal of the match just before half time when he half volleyed a cross into the top corner of the net.
Honours
Sheffield United FA Cup: Winners 1915
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