Benjamin Ward Spilsbury (1 August 1864 – 15 August 1938) was an English international

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 ...

Early life

He was born at

Findern Findern is a village and civil parish in the District of South Derbyshire, approximately 5–6 miles south of Derby (Grid reference: ). The population of the civil parish was 1,669 at the 2011 Census. The village was mentioned in the Domesday Bo ...

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...

, son of the Reverend Benjamin Ward. Spilsbury was an all-round athlete at

Rossall School Rossall School is a public school (English independent day and boarding school) for 0–18 year olds, between Cleveleys and Fleetwood, Lancashire. Rossall was founded in 1844 by St Vincent Beechey as a sister school to Marlborough College ...

and later

Repton School Repton School is a 13–18 Mixed-sex education, co-educational, Independent school (United Kingdom), independent, Day school, day and boarding school in the English Public school (United Kingdom), public school tradition, in Repton, Derbyshire, ...

, where he played football,

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

and

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competiti ...

. At

Repton Repton is a village and civil parish in the South Derbyshire district of Derbyshire, England, located on the edge of the River Trent floodplain, about north of Swadlincote. The population taken at the 2001 Census was 2,707, increasing to 2,8 ...

he was school champion 4 times in

long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a gr ...

, and in 1882 he broke the school record. He enrolled at Jesus College in

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

, and he played football for

Cambridge University , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

from 1884 to 1887. In his last year at the university, he was also captain of the team.

Career

He made his debut for the international team against

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

on 28 February 1885. Spilsbury played three games 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 ...

, and scored five goals. His biggest game for England came in 1886, when he scored four of England's goals in a 6–1 win over

Derby County F.C.

After representing

and his country, he played games for

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group. Founded in 1884 ...

from 1884 to 1889. He is best remembered for scoring the first recorded Derby goal in 1884. In total he played eight FA cup games, scoring seven FA cup goals. He also played one league game, scoring one goal. Spilsbury played a major role in the FA Cup in the years before League football. Inside-right had proved a problem position for Derby County to fill and, by the end of the year, 1888, Derby County had already tried five different players at that position. The last had been Alexander Higgins, known as Sandy Higgins but as the visit to

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park ...

approached (29 December 1888), Higgins was not available, so Derby County called up Spilsbury to make his League debut. Aston Villa dominated the first half and were 2–0 up by the halfway mark in the first-half. Spilsbury then scored what was described as a fine goal, to put Derby County back in contention. As the first-half came to an end, despite some "fine saves" by Derby County goalkeeper, Joseph Marshall, Aston Villa re-established their 2-goal lead. The second half was more even. Villa dominated the early exchanges ad went 4–1 up. Derby County came back into the match and George Bakewell got a second goal for Derby County to make the final score look more respectable. The match against Aston Villa was Spilsbury' only League match. His goal was his only League goal. Spilsbury played one more time for Derby County. He was selected to replace Thomas Needham for the FA Cup first round tie against non-League Derby Junction F.C. The match was played on 2 February 1889 and Derby County won 1–0. Derby County finished 10th in the Football League scoring 41 goals, and went out of the FA Cup in the second round. (registration & fee required)

Life after sport

After his playing career was over, he moved to Canada, where he worked as an estate agent. He died at North Vancouver in August 1938 aged 74.

England career

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Spilsbury, Benjamin 1864 births 1938 deaths People educated at Rossall School People educated at Repton School Alumni of Jesus College, Cambridge English men's footballers England men's international footballers Derby County F.C. players Cambridge University A.F.C. players People from Findern Footballers from Derbyshire Men's association football players not categorized by position