William Luckett (6 September 1903 – 5 July 1985) was an English professional

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 for

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

as a

left-half A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

in the 1920s and 1930s, making over 200 appearances.

Playing career

Early days

Luckett was born in

St Helens, Lancashire St Helens () is a town in Merseyside, England, with a population of 102,629. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of St Helens, which had a population of 176,843 at the United Kingdom Census 2001, 2001 Census. St Helens i ...

and played his early football with

Skelmersdale United Skelmersdale United Football Club is a football club from Skelmersdale, Lancashire. They are currently members of the and play at The Community Ground, Burscough. The club is a member of both the Liverpool F.A. and the Lancashire County Footb ...

, from where he had an unsuccessful trial with

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 ...

Southampton

In August 1927, shortly before his 24th birthday, he joined

, then in the Second Division. He made a "spectacular" first-team debut came on 21 January 1928, when he scored twice from the right-wing in a 5–1 home victory over

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 ...

. He retained his place for the next two matches, before Bill Henderson returned from injury. Later in the season, Luckett made three appearances at outside-left, replacing the injured Stan Cribb. In the next season, Luckett's first-team chances were restricted by the form of

Stan Woodhouse Stanley Woodhouse (10 February 1899 – 18 March 1977) was an English footballer who played initially as an inside forward and later as a half back with Bury and Southampton in the 1920s and 1930s. Playing career Woodhouse was born in Warringt ...

at left-half, and his five appearances came in four different positions as the "Saints" had their best season since joining the Second Division in 1922, finishing fourth in the table. In 1929–30, Luckett made 12 appearances, generally standing in for Woodhouse, who was beginning to suffer from injury at frequent intervals. For the early part of the 1930–31 season, Luckett made only a handful of appearances, before injury to Woodhouse again earned Luckett a recall at left-half. Described as "not a particularly skilful player (who) had a voracious appetite for work", Luckett "would chase around the pitch like a terrier". He now began to make the left-half position his own, eventually forcing manager

George Kay George Kay (21 September 1891 – 18 April 1954) was an English football player and manager of Luton Town, Southampton and Liverpool. The highlight of his playing career was when he captained West Ham United in the first FA Cup final to be play ...

to switch Woodhouse to the right. Luckett was "ever-present" in 1932–33, playing at left-half until mid-February, before being pushed forward to

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 ...

to replace

Johnny Arnold John Arnold (30 November 1907, Cowley, Oxford – 4 April 1984, Southampton, Hampshire) was an English cricketer and Football player. Cricket career John Arnold was an attacking opening batsman for Hampshire for 20 years from 1930, when he qu ...

who had been transferred to

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandsworth ...

along with

Michael Keeping Alexander Edwin Michael Keeping (22 August 1902 – 28 March 1984) was an English association football, footballer and coach (sport), manager. He coached Real Madrid CF from January 1948 to October 1950. His father was the Olympic medal winning c ...

. Luckett scored five goals from the left-wing, including two in a 3–1 victory over

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Bru ...

on 15 April. Luckett missed the start of the 1933–34 season and with Woodhouse back at left-half, he replaced Fred Tully (who had been signed to replace John Arnold) at outside-left, before Tully returned in December. Luckett eventually regained his place at left-half in early March. With age now catching up on Woodhouse, Luckett retained the No. 6 shirt for 1934–35 only missing four matches as the Saints struggled both on and off the pitch, finishing only two places above the relegation zone and needing two borrow £200 from the Supporters Club to help finance the summer wage bill. Luckett made 18 appearances at the start of the 1935–36 season, before an ankle injury put him out for several months, with Woodhouse once again replacing him. After two attempts at a return to first-team action, Luckett retired in the summer of 1937, having made 219 appearances over ten years, scoring 10 goals.

Coaching career

After retiring from playing at the age of 34, Luckett joined Cowes Sports as a player-coach, remaining with the

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight ( ) is a county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the largest and second-most populous island of England. Referred to as 'The Island' by residents, the Isle of ...

club up to the start of

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 ...

. During the war, he joined the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

where he became a

Physical Training Physical fitness is a state of health and well-being and, more specifically, the ability to perform aspects of sports, occupations and daily activities. Physical fitness is generally achieved through proper nutrition, moderate-vigorous physical ...

instructor at

RAF Ford HM Prison Ford (informally known as Ford Open Prison) is a Category D men's prison, located at Ford, in West Sussex West Sussex is a county in South East England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the shire di ...

. Whilst at Ford, he spotted the potential of

Eric Day Eric Charles Day (6 November 1921 – 10 November 2012) was an English footballer who played his entire career of nearly 400 Football League games for Southampton. He was born in Dartford, Kent Kent is a county in South East England a ...

and recommended him to the Saints. After the war, Luckett returned to The Dell, spending seven years as the trainer for the reserve and "A" teams. He then had a brief spell, from September 1954 to January 1955 as manager at

Andover Andover may refer to: Places Australia * Andover, Tasmania Canada * Andover Parish, New Brunswick * Perth-Andover, New Brunswick United Kingdom * Andover, Hampshire, England ** RAF Andover, a former Royal Air Force station United States * Ando ...

. He was the landlord of the Salisbury Arms at

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...

before the war, and after the war was the landlord of the Juniper Berry in Southampton. He continued to play Sunday football into his 60s, turning out for the

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in 1964. In his retirement, Luckett lived in

Shirley, Southampton Shirley is a broad district and a former village on the western side of Southampton, England. Shirley's main roles are retailing and residential. It is the most important suburban shopping area in the west of the city. Housing is a mixture of co ...

where he died in July 1985.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Luckett, Bill 1903 births 1985 deaths Men's association football central defenders Cowes Sports F.C. players English Football League players English men's footballers Footballers from St Helens, Merseyside Royal Air Force personnel of World War II Royal Air Force Physical Training instructors Skelmersdale United F.C. players Southampton F.C. players