William Smalley (1864–1912) 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 in

the 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 ...

for

Stoke Stoke is a common place name in the United Kingdom. Stoke may refer to: Places United Kingdom The largest city called Stoke is Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire. See below. Berkshire * Stoke Row, Berkshire Bristol * Stoke Bishop * Stok ...

Career

Smalley was born in

Darwen Darwen is a market town and civil parish in the Blackburn with Darwen borough in Lancashire, England. The residents of the town are known as "Darreners". The A666 road passes through Darwen towards Blackburn to the north, Bolton to the sout ...

and was on the books of

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional football club in Preston, Lancashire, England, who currently play in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league syste ...

's reserve team but had not played for the first–team. When Stoke went to

Deepdale Deepdale is a football stadium in the Deepdale area of Preston, England, the home of Preston North End. Deepdale is "widely recognised as being the oldest 'continuously used' football stadium in the world, though this is contested". History ...

, the home of Preston North End on 6 October 1888 they were missing two players who failed to board the train the morning so Preston lent them Smalley and fellow reserve team player

Alfred Dempsey Alfred Dempsey (8 June 1865 – 1950) was an English footballer who played in the Football League for Stoke. Career In a Football League match between Preston North End and Stoke Stoke is a common place name in the United Kingdom. Stoke may ...

. The visitors were overwhelmed in a 7–0 defeat and Smalley never played first–team football again. Smalley' brother

Robert Smalley Røbert Edwin Smalley (1867 – 1947) was an English footballer who played in the Football League for Everton. Early career Robert Smalley was signed by Preston North End in 1886. In the following year, May 1887, he moved to Everton and took o ...

played in goal for Everton.

Career statistics

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smalley, Bill English men's footballers Preston North End F.C. players Stoke City F.C. players English Football League players 1864 births 1912 deaths Men's association football forwards Footballers from Darwen