William Charles Seddon (28 July 1901 – January 1993) 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 ...

Career

Born in Clapton,

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, he played junior football in London before joining Gillingham as an amateur, and had an unsuccessful trial with Aston Villa before joining Arsenal in December 1924. Seddon played as a half back and was mainly a second-string player, he played over 200

Football Combination The Football Combination was a football competition for the reserve teams of English Football League clubs from Southern England, the Midlands and Wales; other clubs from the Midlands and those from the North playing in the Central League (it is n ...

matches for

Arsenal Reserves Arsenal Football Club Academy is the youth system of Arsenal Football Club based in Hale End, London, England. It is often referred to as Hale End eponymously by the club, sports media, and fans. The academy teams play in the Professional Dev ...

, eventually rising to captain as the side won five Combination titles in the 1920s. During the 1920s, Seddon played sparingly for the Arsenal first team, making his debut when deputising for Alf Baker in a 2–1 defeat against Sunderland on 10 April 1926. That was his only appearance of 1925–26, but edged his way into the first team with 17 appearances in 1926–27. However, he did not make the cut for the

1927 FA Cup Final 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 Musi ...

, and with Arsenal's strong half-back line of Alf Baker, Jack Butler and

Bob John Robert Frederick John (3 February 1899 – 17 July 1982) was a Welsh football player and coach. Born in Barry, John played for Barry Town and Caerphilly, before joining English club Arsenal, who signed him, against stiff competition, in Jan ...

. Seddon only played four times in 1927–28 and not at all in 1928–29. However, in 1929–30 he was reintroduced into the Arsenal side, alternating with Baker at right half, until centre half

Herbie Roberts Herbert Roberts (19 February 1905 – 19 June 1944) was an English footballer. Playing career Born in Oswestry, Shropshire, Roberts first played as an amateur for his local club Oswestry Town, whilst working as a policeman. A tall, but quiet ...

was injured against

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, hav ...

. Seddon moved into defence and not only played the last twelve games of that season, but started the

1930 FA Cup Final The 1930 FA Cup Final was contested by Arsenal and Huddersfield Town at Wembley Stadium. Arsenal won 2–0, with goals from Alex James and Jack Lambert. As a result, Arsenal won their first FA Cup after a defeat in their FA Cup final debut in 1 ...

, in which Arsenal beat

Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The team have played home games at the Kirklees Stadium since moving from Leeds Road in 1994. Th ...

2–0 to win their first major trophy. He played in Arsenal's 2–1 victory over Sheffield Wednesday in the Charity Shield at Stamford Bridge in October 1930. Seddon continued to play for Arsenal, appearing 18 times in

1930–31 Year 193 ( CXCIII) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Sosius and Ericius (or, less frequently, year 946 ''Ab urbe condit ...

and winning a League Championship medal as Arsenal won their first ever league title. By this time he had reverted to right half, but the move of Charlie Jones to right half ousted him from the side and he only made five appearances in 1931–32. He eventually left the club in March 1932, moving to

Grimsby Town Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that in the 2022–23 season will compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system, following the victory in t ...

for £2,500. In total, he played 76 matches for Arsenal, though he never scored a goal. He spent two seasons with Grimsby before a single season with

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 ...

. He retired from playing in 1934. He later worked as a trainer for

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nottingham, England. The team participate in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Founded on the 25 November 1862, it is the ...

and

Romford Romford is a large town in east London and the administrative centre of the London Borough of Havering. It is located northeast of Charing Cross and is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the London Plan. Historically, Romfo ...

. 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 opposing ...

he served in

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

with the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

, and returned to Romford after the war to become their

groundsman Groundskeeping is the activity of tending an area of land for aesthetic or functional purposes, typically in an institutional setting. It includes mowing grass, trimming hedges, pulling weeds, planting flowers, etc. The U.S. Department of Labor e ...

. In 1967, Arsenal and Romford played a

testimonial match A testimonial match or testimonial game, often referred to simply as a testimonial, is a practice in some sports, particularly in association football in the United Kingdom and South America, where a club has a match to honour a player for servic ...

for him on his retirement. He died in January 1993, aged 91.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Seddon, Bill 1901 births 1993 deaths Footballers from the London Borough of Hackney English men's footballers Gillingham F.C. players Arsenal F.C. players Grimsby Town F.C. players Luton Town F.C. players Notts County F.C. non-playing staff Men's association football wing halves British Army personnel of World War II