William Barbour (21 September 1865 – 17 June 1900)
was a
Scottish
Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including:
*Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland
*Scottish English
*Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...
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
English 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 Engl ...
for
Accrington
Accrington is a town in the Hyndburn borough of Lancashire, England. It lies about east of Blackburn, west of Burnley, east of Preston, north of Manchester and is situated on the culverted River Hyndburn. Commonly abbreviated by locals to ...
and
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 ...
football clubs.
[ (registration & fee required)]
Barbour began his footballing career at
Queen of the South Wanderers in 1887. Fans of the club were angry when he left to join Accrington in September 1888, and this led to the club being suspended by the
Scottish Football Association
The Scottish Football Association (also known as the SFA and the Scottish FA; sco, Scots Fitba Association; Scottish Gaelic: ''Comann Ball-coise na h-Alba'') is the Sport governing body, governing body of association football, football in Scot ...
for professionalism. Billy Barbour had received groceries in lieu of payment. Billy Barbour, playing at centre–forward, made his Accrington and League debut on 22 September 1888 at the
County Ground, the then home of
Derby County. The match ended as a 1–1 draw.
Season 1888-89
Barbour scored his debut League goal on 29 September 1888 at
Victoria Ground, the then home of
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 ...
. Billy Barbour put Accrington 3–0 ahead of the home side early in the second–half. Accrington defeated Stoke 4–2. Barbour appeared in 19 of the 22 League matches played by Accrington in season 1888–89 scoring 13 League goals. Barbour, playing at centre–forward (18 appearances), was part of the Accrington forward–line that scored three–League–goals–or–more on seven separate occasions. Barbour top scored for Accrington in 1888–89 with 13 goals with eight of those goals coming in just four matches. Barbour scored two–in–a–match on the following dates/matches; 6 October 1888 at
Thorneyholme Road
Thorneyholme Road is a cricket and former football ground in Accrington, England. It is the home ground of Accrington Cricket Club, and was the home ground of Accrington F.C. from 1878 until 1896 when they dissolved.
History
Thorneyholme Ro ...
, home of Accrington, in a 4–4 draw with
Wolverhampton Wanderers
Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...
; 3 November 1888 at
Stoney Lane
Stoney Lane was a football ground in West Bromwich, England. It was the home ground of West Bromwich Albion from 1885 until 1900.
History
West Bromwich Albion moved to Stoney Lane in 1885 from their Four Acres ground in 1885. A 600-seat grandst ...
, the then home of
West Bromwich Albion
West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was formed in 1878 and has pla ...
. Barbour got both Accrington goals in a 2–2 draw; 10 November 1888 at
Trent Bridge, the then home of
Notts County. Barbour got two of Accrington' goals in a 3–3 draw; 1 December 1888 at Thorneyholme Road, with Barbour getting two Accrington goals in a 5–1 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 ...
.
Season 1889-90
Season 1889 - 1890 was Accrington' most successful League campaign in its short membership of the League. The club finished sixth. Barbour played 16 League Matches (out of 22) six of which were won (Accrington won nine). He was Accrington' Joint top-scorer with
Arthur Wilkinson scoring 11 goals plus two goals in the 1889-90
FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...
campaign. Barbour scored in five of the nine wins Accrington achieved that season. At the end of the 1889-90 Season Barbour had scored 24 League goals over two seasons, all for Accrington, and he was Accrington' highest scorer.
Barbour continued to score regularly for Accrington making 34 League appearances and scoring 20 League goals from 1889–91. He also played in four FA Cup ties and scored two goals in the same period. When he returned to Scotland in 1891 he had made 59 League and Cup appearances and scored 35 goals.
In 1891 he returned to Scotland to play for
Annan.
In 1894 he joined Bury scoring 11 goals in 101 appearances over four seasons (109 appearances when you include the FA Cup).
In 1898 he joined
Gravesend United, and left to join
Millwall Athletic later the same year. He rejoined Gravesend in 1899.
Barbour worked as a dock labourer and played for
Grays in 1900, which was sadly his last season, as in June 1900 he died suddenly due to failure of the heart caused by chronic alcoholism.
Statistics
Source:
*=Test Match Bury vs Liverpool - Bury won 1-0 to win promotion to Division 1.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barbour, Billy
Scottish men's footballers
Accrington F.C. players
Bury F.C. players
Scottish Football League players
Sunderland Albion F.C. players
Gravesend United F.C. players
Millwall F.C. players
1865 births
1900 deaths
Men's association football forwards
Alcohol-related deaths in England
Queen of the South Wanderers F.C. players