William Briscoe (6 November 1896 – 7 February 1994) 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

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

. A former

Watford Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, a ...

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 ...

, Milton Brotherhood, and Leek United player; he first turned professional with

Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in . Vale are the only English Football League club not to be named after a place; their name being a reference to the valley o ...

in 1918. After five years he moved on to

Congleton Town Congleton Town Football Club is an association football club based in Congleton, Cheshire, England. They currently play in the and are full members of the Cheshire County Football Association. The club have played in a number of regional league ...

for a season, only to return to Vale in 1924. He then spent the next seven years with the club, racking up a combined total of 307 league appearances for the club over his two spells, scoring 51 goals. He returned to Congleton in 1931 before later retiring from the game. He also played

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

for

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands Cou ...

in the

Minor Counties Championship The NCCA 3 Day Championship (previously the Minor Counties Cricket Championship) is a season-long competition in England and Wales that is contested by the members of the National Counties Cricket Association (NCCA), the so-called national cou ...

from 1921 to 1925.

Career

Briscoe appeared for

(three appearances), Milton Brotherhood and Leek United before signing professional forms with

in January 1918. The club were re-elected into 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 ...

in October 1919, and Briscoe scored his first

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

goal on 15 November, in a 2–1 defeat at

Clapton Orient Leyton Orient Football Club is a professional football club based in Leyton, East London, England, who compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. They are the second oldest football club in London to play at a profess ...

. In total he scored 10 goals in 25 appearances in 1919–20. He scored past

rivals A rivalry is the state of two people or groups engaging in a lasting competitive relationship. Rivalry is the "against each other" spirit between two competing sides. The relationship itself may also be called "a rivalry", and each participant o ...

Stoke on 25 September 1920, in a 2–1 win at

The Old Recreation Ground The Old Recreation Ground was a football stadium located in Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent, England, and home to Port Vale F.C. from 1913 to 1950. It was the sixth ground the club used. Structure and facilities The stadium was in rather bad conditio ...

. He also got on the scoresheet at Molineux and the

City Ground The City Ground is a football stadium in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England, on the banks of the River Trent. It has been home to Nottingham Forest Football Club since 1898 and has a capacity of 30,445. The stadium was a venue when E ...

to take his league tally to three goals in 35 games in 1920–21. He featured 34 times in 1921–22, scoring just the one goal. He was a member of the sides that shared the North Staffordshire Infirmary Cup in 1920 and 1922. He hit three goals in 40 appearances in 1922–23. Briscoe failed to agree terms with the Port Vale board in the summer of 1923, and switched to nearby non-league side

. In January 1924, Vale offered better terms and he re-signed. Despite only playing 21 games, he finished the 1923–24 season as joint- top scorer, tied with Tom Page on 10 goals. He scored 12 goals in 44 games in 1924–25, missing just the one match all season, though the prolific

Wilf Kirkham Wilfred Thomas Kirkham (26 November 1901 – 20 October 1974) was an English footballer who holds four goalscoring records at Port Vale. His 153 league goals and 164 goals in all competitions are both records, as his tally of 38 goals in the ...

now took on the mantel as the club's main source of goals. He hit four of his 12 goals in an 8–2 mauling of non-league Alfreton in an

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 ...

qualifier on 13 December. Briscoe scored four goals in 26 games in 1925–26, and even played a match whilst suffering from

appendicitis Appendicitis is inflammation of the appendix. Symptoms commonly include right lower abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, and decreased appetite. However, approximately 40% of people do not have these typical symptoms. Severe complications of a rup ...

. Briscoe hit seven goals in 32 appearances in 1926–27, and helped the club to finish above Stoke City in the league for the first time. He hit five goals in 22 games in 1927–28, missing much of the season with a broken cheekbone. He scored twice in 25 games in 1928–29, but could not help the club to avoid relegation. He played eight league games in 1929–30, as Vale stormed to the

Third Division North The Third Division North of the Football League was a tier in the English football league system from 1921 to 1958. It ran in parallel with the Third Division South with clubs elected to the League or relegated from a higher division allocated to ...

title. However, he did not feature in the 1930–31 season, and was given a free transfer back to Congleton Town in May 1931, who he also coached. In 13 years at the club he had played 331 games (193 in the Football League) and scored 60 goals (43 in the Football League).

Career statistics

Source:

Honours

Port Vale *

Football League Third Division North The Third Division North of the Football League was a tier in the English football league system from 1921 to 1958. It ran in parallel with the Third Division South with clubs elected to the League or relegated In sports leagues, promotion and ...

: 1929–30

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Briscoe, Billy 1896 births 1994 deaths People from Fenton, Staffordshire Footballers from Stoke-on-Trent English footballers Men's association football forwards Watford F.C. players Stoke City F.C. wartime guest players Port Vale F.C. players Congleton Town F.C. players English Football League players Association football coaches Cricketers from Stoke-on-Trent English cricketers Staffordshire cricketers