Willie Appleyard (13 August 1878 – 14 January 1958) 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 ...

, whose career at the highest level was cut short through injury.

Football career

William Appleyard, born in Caistor,

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, known as Bill or Willie, began his career at amateur outfit Cleethorpes before signing for Grimsby Town in 1901. Nicknamed Cockles, a reference to his previous job he had as a Grimsby fisherman, he joined the Mariners who had just been promoted from 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 ...

and in the 1901–02 season, Appleyard scored 9 goals in 19 league appearances for Grimsby. In his second season he scored 10 in 25 league appearances as Grimsby finished bottom. Already relegated he signed for

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End ...

in April 1903, playing in two matches for the Magpies before the season ended. In his first season on Tyneside, he scored 16 league goals in 31 matches and scored in his only

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

appearance that season. The following season Newcastle won the first division and finished runners up in the FA Cup. Appleyard scored 14 goals in 28 appearances in their successful league campaign and a further 2 goals in 5 FA Cup games on the way to the final. In the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

Newcastle United lost 2-0 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 ...

. Another FA Cup Final followed the next season, double disappointment this time, as this time Newcastle United lost 1-0 against Everton. Not only the result but Appleyard, despite being United’s top scorer hitting 6 goals in 5 games, was not selected for the

, Ronald Orr, who was omitted in last season’s final, lined up instead. In the league however he scored 11 in 21 appearances as Newcastle finished fourth, eight points off champions

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

. The 1906-07 season saw Newcastle become champions once again, Appleyard bagging 17 goals in 23 appearances. The 1907-08 season was to be his last season for Newcastle, injury cutting short his impressive career. He still managed 13 goals in 23 league games and also scored 8 goals in 6 FA Cup matches, including becoming the first player to score 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 Newcastle in an FA Cup tie, ironically against his former club Grimsby Town on 7 March 1908. A third FA Cup final for Newcastle United in four years, Appleyard playing in his second, that saw the Magpies managing to score this time, but lost yet again, this time 3-1 to

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...

. After playing 146 games for Newcastle and scoring an impressive 88 goals, injury enforced his departure from the club at the end of the season. Appleyard signed for

Oldham Athletic, making only four appearances before making a return back to Grimsby Town, also in the second division, during the 1908–09 season, where he scored 2 goals in 13 appearances. His return was brief, joining Mansfield Mechanics in 1909. He retired shortly afterwards and returned to

Tyneside Tyneside is a built-up area across the banks of the River Tyne in northern England. Residents of the area are commonly referred to as Geordies. The whole area is surrounded by the North East Green Belt. The population of Tyneside as published i ...

, working in

Wallsend Wallsend is a town in North Tyneside, England, at the eastern end of Hadrian's Wall. It has a population of 43,842 and lies east of Newcastle upon Tyne. History Roman Wallsend In Roman times, this was the site of the fort of Segedunum. This fo ...

at the

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yard. He died on Tuesday 14 January 1958 at Newcastle General Hospital, aged 79.

Honours

As a player

;

finalist:

1905 As the second year of the massive Russo-Japanese War begins, more than 100,000 die in the largest world battles of that era, and the war chaos leads to the 1905 Russian Revolution against Nicholas II of Russia (Shostakovich's 11th Symphony i ...

1908 Events January * January 1 – The British ''Nimrod'' Expedition led by Ernest Shackleton sets sail from New Zealand on the ''Nimrod'' for Antarctica. * January 3 – A total solar eclipse is visible in the Pacific Ocean, and is the 46 ...

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 ...

champions:

1904–05 Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number), the natural number following 18 and preceding 20 * one of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (film), a 1987 science fiction film Music ...

1906–07 Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number), the natural number following 18 and preceding 20 * one of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (film), a 1987 science fiction film Music ...

References

Resources

*''A Complete Who's Who of Newcastle United'', by Paul Joannou. *''Haway The Lads, The Illustrated Story of Newcastle United'', by Paul Joannou, Tommy Canning/Patrick Canning {{DEFAULTSORT:Appleyard, Bill 1878 births People from Cleethorpes 1958 deaths English footballers Association football forwards Grimsby Town F.C. players Newcastle United F.C. players Mansfield Mechanics F.C. players English Football League players FA Cup Final players