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 le ...

Career

Born in Clapton, London, he played junior football in London before joining Gillingham as an amateur, and had an unsuccessful trial with

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 ...

before joining

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

in December 1924. Seddon played as a half back and was mainly a second-string player, he played over 200 Football Combination 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 De ...

, 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 Alfred Baker (27 April 1898 – April 1955) was an English footballer. Playing career Born in Ilkeston, Derbyshire, Baker was originally a miner and played for various clubs in Derbyshire as an amateur, including Eastwood Rangers. During Worl ...

in a 2–1 defeat against

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

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 Music ...

, and with Arsenal's strong half-back line of Alf Baker, Jack Butler and Bob John. 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 was injured against West Ham United. 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 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 Stamford Bridge may refer to: * Stamford Bridge, East Riding of Yorkshire, a village in England ** Battle of Stamford Bridge, 25 September 1066 * Stamford Bridge (bridge), a bridge in the village of Stamford Bridge * Stamford Bridge (stadium), in L ...

in October 1930. Seddon continued to play for Arsenal, appearing 18 times in 1930–31 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 Charles, Charlie, Charley or Chuck Jones may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Chuck Jones (1912–2002), American animator, director, and producer * Charles Jones (c. 1889–1942), American actor better known as Buck Jones * Charles Jones (pho ...

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 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. He retired from playing in 1934. He later worked as a trainer for Notts County and Romford. During World War II he served in Africa with the British Army, and returned to Romford after the war to become their groundsman. In 1967, Arsenal and Romford played a testimonial match 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