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Bert Williams (footballer, born 1920)

English footballer (1920-2014)

Summary

English footballer (1920-2014)

Field	Value
name	Bert Williams

image	Bert Williams pic 422.jpg
caption	Bert Williams
fullname	Bert Frederick Williams
birth_date
birth_place	Bradley, England
death_date
death_place	Shifnal, England
height
position	Goalkeeper
youthclubs1	Bilston
youthclubs2	Thompson's FC
years1	1937–1945
clubs1	Walsall
caps1	25
goals1	0
years2	1945–1959
clubs2	Wolverhampton Wanderers
caps2	381
goals2	0
totalcaps	406
totalgoals	0
nationalyears1	1949
nationalteam1	England B
nationalcaps1	1
nationalgoals1	0
nationalyears2	1949–1955
nationalteam2	England
nationalcaps2	24
nationalgoals2	0
{{Infobox military person	embed	yes
allegiance	United Kingdom
branch	{{plainlist
serviceyears	1940–1945
unit	Physical training instructor
rank	Sergeant
battles	Second World War

[[File:Air Force Ensign of the United Kingdom.svg|23px]] Royal Air Force}}

Bert Frederick Williams MBE (31 January 1920 – 19 January 2014) was an English international football goalkeeper. Nicknamed The Cat, he spent the majority of his playing career at Wolverhampton Wanderers where he won the League Championship and FA Cup. At the time of his death Williams was the oldest living England international.

Early career

Williams started playing competitive football as a young man when he was a member of the 19th Wolverhampton Company of The Boys' Brigade (Bradley Methodist Church). He was then offered the chance to play for Walsall's reserves, whilst playing for Thompson's FC, the works team of the local factory he was employed at. He was taken on permanently and turned professional in April 1937.

The outbreak of World War II halted his progress, after two seasons of playing, as he joined the RAF, serving as a Physical Training instructor. He found time in between his duties to turn out as a guest for both Nottingham Forest and Chelsea in friendlies.

Wolves and England

With the conflict over, Williams resumed his career by signing for First Division Wolverhampton Wanderers in September 1945 for £3,500. He immediately became first choice at the Molineux club, making his official debut when league football resumed on 31 August 1946 in a 6–1 win over Arsenal, a game that was also the Wolves début of Johnny Hancocks.

He gained his first honour in 1949 as the team lifted the FA Cup after defeating Leicester City. His part in winning this prize saw him rewarded with an England call-up later that month, as he made his international debut on 22 May 1949 in a 3–1 friendly win in France. He held onto the goalkeeper's jersey through the 1950 FIFA World Cup, and at that tournament played in England's surprise defeat by the USA.

He won the league title with Wolves in 1953–54. In total, he made 420 appearances for Wolves.

After football

After ending his football career, he ran a sports shop in Bilston, a sporting centre and lived near Shifnal in Shropshire.

Williams was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2010 Birthday Honours for services to football and to charity.

Bert Williams Leisure Centre in Bilston is named after him and opened in 2011.

Honours

Football League First Division: 1953–54
FA Cup: 1949
FA Charity Shield: 1949, 1954 (* shared)

References

(February 2013). "Birthday joy for Wolves legend Bert Williams".
Matthews, Tony. (2001). "The Wolves Who's Who". Britespot.
Lowe, Simon. (2005). "Match of My Life – Wolves". Know The Score Books.
Matthews, Tony. (2008). "Wolverhampton Wanderers: The Complete Record". Breedon Books.
(8 June 2010). "Defeat by US still hurts, says England old boy Williams". BBC.
"Bert Williams". Wolves Official Website.
(8 March 2011). "Bert Williams". Wolves Official Site.
{{London Gazette. (12 June 2010)

Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

1920-births 2014-deaths military-personnel-from-the-west-midlands-(county) men's-association-football-goalkeepers english-men's-footballers england-men's-international-footballers england-men's-wartime-international-footballers 1950-fifa-world-cup-players walsall-f.c.-players wolverhampton-wanderers-f.c.-players footballers-from-bilston english-football-league-players members-of-the-order-of-the-british-empire royal-air-force-physical-training-instructors nottingham-forest-f.c.-wartime-guest-players english-football-league-representative-players royal-air-force-airmen royal-air-force-personnel-of-world-war-ii

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