Albert Wilkes (6 September 1875 – 9 December 1936) was an English sports photographer and

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

in the early years of professional football in England, who played for Aston Villa from August 1898 to July 1907. Before playing for Villa he played for

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was formed in 1878 and has pl ...

and

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre in the West Midlands County, England. Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located north-west of Birmingham, east of Wolverhampton and from Lichfield. Walsall is th ...

The Villa News and Record A matchday programme or match programme is a booklet associated with a live sporting event which details the proposed starting lineup and other details of the match. To some spectators, the purchase of a matchday programme is part of the "ritu ...

1 September 1906 Wilkes instantly experienced success at

Villa Park Villa Park is a football stadium in Aston, Birmingham, England, with a seating capacity of 42,682. It has been the home of Premier League side Aston Villa since 1897. The ground is less than a mile from both Witton and Aston railway station ...

, playing a bit part in the club's 1898–99 title success before establishing himself as a first team regular in their 1899–1900 title victory. He was less fortunate in the FA cup where he found himself part of a Villa side beaten in a famous cup upset by Southern League Millwall Athletic.Match report Aston Villa vs Millwall Athletic 1900
/ref> He made five appearances for

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, between March 1901 and May 1902, scoring the equalizing goal against

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

in a 2–2 draw at

on 3 May 1902 – this was the replay of the match that was abandoned as a result of the

first Ibrox disaster The 1902 Ibrox disaster was the collapse of a stand at Ibrox Park (now Ibrox Stadium) in Govan (now part of Glasgow), Scotland. The incident led to the deaths of 25 supporters and injuries to 500 more during an international association footb ...

on 5 April 1902, in which 25 people died and 517 were injured. He began his photographic career whilst still a player and he continued until his death. His son Albert Wilkes Junior continued the business until it was sold to leading photographic agency Colorsport in 1970.

References

Albert Wilkes Bio
at Aston Villa Player Database

at England Football Online *

External links

* 1875 births 1936 deaths Footballers from Birmingham, West Midlands English men's footballers England men's international footballers Aston Villa F.C. players Walsall F.C. players West Bromwich Albion F.C. players Men's association football midfielders {{England-footy-midfielder-1870s-stub