Alfred Bellis (8 October 1920 – 28 April 2013) was an English

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 le ...

who played at

outside left Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

in the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

for

Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in . Vale are the only English Football League club not to be named after a place; their name being a reference to the valley o ...

Bury Bury may refer to: *The burial of human remains *-bury, a suffix in English placenames Places England * Bury, Cambridgeshire, a village * Bury, Greater Manchester, a town, historically in Lancashire ** Bury (UK Parliament constituency) (1832–19 ...

, Swansea Town, and

Chesterfield Chesterfield may refer to: Places Canada * Rural Municipality of Chesterfield No. 261, Saskatchewan * Chesterfield Inlet, Nunavut United Kingdom * Chesterfield, Derbyshire, a market town in England ** Chesterfield (UK Parliament constitue ...

. He also played for Ellesmere Port Town,

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, at the foothills of the South Pennines in the dale on the River Roch, northwest of Oldham and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough ...

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nottingham, England. The team participate in the National League (division), National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Founded on the 2 ...

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

and

Manchester City Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Career

Bellis was working as a laboratory assistant at

Shell Shell may refer to: Architecture and design * Shell (structure), a thin structure ** Concrete shell, a thin shell of concrete, usually with no interior columns or exterior buttresses ** Thin-shell structure Science Biology * Seashell, a hard ou ...

when he was spotted playing for the works team. He joined

from Burnell's Ironworks in March 1938, and was sacked by Shell after choosing to play for Vale ahead of the company. He scored on his debut on 30 April 1938, in a 4–1 win over

The Old Recreation Ground The Old Recreation Ground was a football stadium located in Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent, England, and home to Port Vale F.C. from 1913 to 1950. It was the sixth ground the club used. Structure and facilities The stadium was in rather bad conditio ...

, in what was the last home game of the 1937–38 campaign. He scored three goals in 31 appearances in 1938–39. During the

war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

he played for the "Valiants", as well as guesting for Ellesmere Port Town,

and

. He was particularly active for Manchester United in the 1942–43 and 1943–44 seasons. On 9 October 1943, he scored a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...

for the "Red Devils" in a 3–1 win over

Chester Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...

. For his wartime duties, he loaded bombs onto planes. He was the Vale's top-scorer for the 1944–45 season with 10 goals and, despite also guesting for

Luton Town Luton Town Football Club () is a professional association football club based in the town of Luton, Bedfordshire, England, that competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1885, it is nicknam ...

, was a regular in the side. He scored 12 goals in 43 games in 1946–47, as the

Football League Third Division South The Third Division South of The Football League was a tier in the English football league system from 1921 to 1958. It ran in parallel with the Third Division North with clubs elected to the League or relegated from Division Two allocated to on ...

continued following an eight-season break. He hit four goals in 18 games in 1947–48, before he was traded to

in exchange for Walter Keeley and a 'substantial fee' in January 1948 by

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

Gordon Hodgson Gordon Hodgson (16 April 1904 – 14 June 1951) was a professional sportsman, born in Transvaal Colony, who is best known as a striker for Liverpool and as a fast bowler for Lancashire. He won two international caps for South Africa and three ...

. He played 158 games (84 in the

). He scored 46 goals (18 in the football league). At the end of the 1947–48 season,

Norman Bullock Norman Bullock (8 September 1900 – 22 October 1970) was an English professional footballer, who played as both a forward and a defender, and manager. He began his career playing local amateur football before signing for Bury in 192 ...

's "Shakers" avoided

relegation In sports leagues, promotion and relegation is a process where teams are transferred between multiple divisions based on their performance for the completed season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are often called open leagues. ...

out of the

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

by one place and five points. They reached 12th in the league in 1948–49 and then finished 18th in 1949–50 before avoiding the drop by one place and two points in 1950–51 under the stewardship of John McNeill. After 95 league games, Bellis then left

Gigg Lane Gigg Lane is a football ground in Bury, Greater Manchester, England, built for Bury F.C. in 1885. The first match was played on 12 September 1885 between Bury and a team from Wigan. One of the world's oldest professional football stadiums, Gig ...

and switched to league rivals Swansea Town, who posted 19th and 11th-place finishes in 1951–52 and 1952–53 under the stewardship of

Billy McCandless William McCandless (20 December 1893 – 18 July 1955) was an Ireland national football team (IFA), Irish international football player and manager. As a player McCandless normally played at left-back, most notably at Rangers F.C., Rangers where ...

. He left the "Swans" after two years at

Vetch Field The Vetch Field was a football stadium in Swansea, Wales. It was used for football matches and was the home ground of Swansea City until the club moved to the newly built Liberty Stadium in 2005. Opened in 1912, the ground held around 12,000 at ...

and played for

in the 1953–54 campaign, helping them to finish sixth in the

Third Division North The Third Division North of the Football League was a tier in the English football league system from 1921 to 1958. It ran in parallel with the Third Division South with clubs elected to the League or relegated from a higher division allocated to ...

. He featured in just 13 league games for

Teddy Davison John Edward Davison (2 September 1887 – 1 February 1971) was an English footballer and manager who had a long and successful association with the football clubs of Sheffield, playing for Sheffield Wednesday for 18 years and later managing Shef ...

's "Spireites" and departed

Saltergate Saltergate, officially the Recreation Ground, was the historic home of Chesterfield Football Club, and was in use from 1871 until the club's relocation in July 2010, a 139-year history that made it one of the oldest football grounds in Englan ...

for stays with Welsh

non-League Non-League football describes football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is specifically used to de ...

sides Rhyl Athletic,

Colwyn Bay Colwyn Bay ( cy, Bae Colwyn) is a town, community and seaside resort in Conwy County Borough on the north coast of Wales overlooking the Irish Sea. It lies within the historic county of Denbighshire. Eight neighbouring communities are incorpo ...

and Penmaenmawr. He later worked in a factory.

Personal life

He married Ellen and had three daughters: Ann Ridell, Kate Meere and Norma J Bellis.

Career statistics

Source:

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bellis, Alf 1920 births 2013 deaths English men's footballers Footballers from Ellesmere Port Footballers from Liverpool Military personnel from Liverpool Men's association football midfielders Shell plc people Port Vale F.C. players Rochdale A.F.C. wartime guest players Notts County F.C. wartime guest players Manchester United F.C. wartime guest players Manchester City F.C. wartime guest players Bury F.C. players Swansea City A.F.C. players Chesterfield F.C. players Rhyl F.C. players Colwyn Bay F.C. players English Football League players Royal Air Force personnel Royal Air Force personnel of World War II