William Albert Sampy (22 January 1901 – 1973) 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 as a

right back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

Career

Sampy was playing for local side

Chopwell Colliery Chopwell Colliery was a coal mine situated at Chopwell, in Gateshead, Tyne and Wear. The pit was first sunk in 1781, and was closed on 25 November 1966. The colliery was bought by the Consett Iron Company in 1896, before being handed over to the ...

when he was signed by

league League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football Sports * Sports league * Rugby league, full contact footba ...

side

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games at ...

in May 1921. United paid £250 for the services of Sampy and teammate

Jimmy Waugh James Waugh (12 August 1898 – 26 March 1968) was an English footballer who played as a centre half. Born in the village of Chopwell in County Durham, Waugh began his career as an amateur with Durham City before spending a brief spell represe ...

, but whereas Waugh went on to become a regular in the first team, Sampy was largely seen as a reserve and did not make his league debut until October 1924 in an away match against

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 ...

. Occasionally featuring in the league from that point on, Sampy did not get a consistent run in the side until the 1925–26 season. In March 1927 Sampy was signed by Swansea Town for £500 but spent much of his three seasons there in the reserves, making only 41 league appearances. In the summer of 1930 Sampy was granted a free transfer and joined

Waterford "Waterford remains the untaken city" , mapsize = 220px , pushpin_map = Ireland#Europe , pushpin_map_caption = Location within Ireland##Location within Europe , pushpin_relief = 1 , coordinates ...

in Ireland, initially as a player and then as player-manager from 1931. Returning to England, Sampy then joined non-league

Nelson Nelson may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Nelson'' (1918 film), a historical film directed by Maurice Elvey * ''Nelson'' (1926 film), a historical film directed by Walter Summers * ''Nelson'' (opera), an opera by Lennox Berkeley to a lib ...

with whom he spent one season.

Personal life

Born in

Backworth Backworth is a village in the metropolitan borough of North Tyneside in the county of Tyne and Wear, England, about west of Whitley Bay on the north east coast. It lies northeast of Newcastle. Other nearby towns include North Shields to the sou ...

Northumberland Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey. It is bordered by land on ...

, Bill Sampy was the younger brother of fellow

player

Tommy Sampy Thomas Sampy (14 March 1899 – 1978) was an English footballer who played as a midfielder. Born in Backworth, Northumberland, he played for the majority of his career at Sheffield United, making nearly 400 appearances for the Blades. Playing c ...

, although the two only played together on very rare occasions.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sampy, Bill 1901 births 1973 deaths People from Backworth Footballers from Tyne and Wear English men's footballers Men's association football defenders Chopwell Colliery F.C. players Sheffield United F.C. players Swansea City A.F.C. players Waterford F.C. players Nelson F.C. players English Football League players League of Ireland players Waterford F.C. managers League of Ireland managers Expatriate men's association footballers in the Republic of Ireland English football managers