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#1
14-10-12, 16:58
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1911 Professional Footballer
Hello,
My great great Uncle is a professional footballer on the 1911 census, and on his marriage certificate in 1912, but I am unable to find anything out about his career or even who he played for. I have tried googling but have been unable to find anything. His name is Herbert Willis, born c1886 in Clapton / Hoxton. In 1911 he is living in Leyton, and he married in Leyton in 1912. I had thought he might have played for Leyton Orient or West Ham but have been unable to find anything out. I suppose I could email the clubs and ask them? Just wondered if anyone had any experience of this type of research or had any hints or tips. Thanks for looking. Tom 
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#2
14-10-12, 17:15
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I expect samesizedfeet (Zoe) will know where to look, but she doesn't come on here very often now. Would you like me to email her?
__________________
"Something has been filled in that I didn't know was blank" Matthew Broderick WDYTYA? March 2010
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#3
14-10-12, 17:28
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I'm quite surprised to see that in 1911 there were 23 professional footballers living in West Ham district! I wondered if googling some of those with less common surnames might take you somewhere where his surname is also listed? I expect they covered quite a few teams though!
ASHTON, Herbert BLACKBURN, James Thomas Alfred BOWER, William BRIDGEMAN, William W BUCHAMAN, Robert COUSINS, Alfred Charles DIX, Joseph GEGGUS, John GOFFIN, Richard GRUMSTER, Frank HORN, George KING, Edward LAVERY, William MASSEY, Frederick James NEWTON, Alfred PICKETT, Arthur RYDER, George Fredrick SHANKS, Thomas WAGGOTT, D WALKER, Alfred Samuel WALTON, John WHYMAN, Alfred WILLIS, Herbert
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"Something has been filled in that I didn't know was blank" Matthew Broderick WDYTYA? March 2010
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#5
14-10-12, 17:50
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#7
14-10-12, 18:02
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He played for Clapton Orient in the 1911-1912 season.
Clapton Orient (1) 1 Chelsea (2) 4 Date: Saturday, 28th October 1911 Competition: Football League Division 2 Venue: Millfields Road Attendance: 25,000 Clapton Orient; Bower, Johnston, Johnson, Hind, Liddell, Willis, Dalrymple, Bevan, Scott, McFadden, Dix Scorer: McFadden 40 Manager: Billy Holmes Many Clapton Orient players signed up to the 17th Middlesex Regiment in the First World War - it became known as the Footballer's Batallion. The Leyton Orient supporter's club have a wealth of knowledge about this club during the period in the run up to the First World War and what happened to the players themselves. They are the people that I think you should contact rather than the club itself. Herbert Willis's name is not on the WW1 Orient memorial, so he either didn't sign up when he was at Orient or, more likely, had moved to another club or left football by then. Does he always stay in the same area?
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#9
14-10-12, 18:09
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Oh - forgot to say that I once wrote a feature about footballers who enlisted in World War One, so have done a bit of research on this. Have been to some of the graves in France, too. The Leyton supporters have made several trips to the battlefields to lay wreaths, etc.
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#10
14-10-12, 18:13
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Quote:
Also, players tended to live in houses rented by the clubs. They were usually close to the football ground and clustered together. Last edited by Shona; 14-10-12 at 18:49.
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