William Cornelius (born 1898) was an English professional

football player 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 ...

and

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

Career

Cornelius was born in Bevedere,

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

in 1898. He played football for Belvedere & District, before venturing to France in 1922 to join

FC Sète FC may refer to: Businesses, organisations, and schools * Fergusson College, a science and arts college in Pune, India * Finncomm Airlines (IATA code) * FranklinCovey company, NYSE stock symbol FC * Frontier Corps, a paramilitary force in Pakis ...

. Cornelius was brought over to the country along with fellow countryman Arthur Parkes by Scottish coach

Victor Gibson Arthur Henry Gibson, known as Victor Raine Gibson (18 July 1888 – 8 April 1958) was an English professional football player and coach active in Spain and France. Early and personal life Arthur Henry Gibson was born in Woolwich in 1888. He marr ...

. With Sète, he played in the

1923 Coupe de France Final The 1923 Coupe de France Final was a soccer, football match held at Stade Pershing, Paris on May 6, 1923, that saw Red Star Olympique defeat FC Sète 4–2 thanks to goals by Marcel Naudin (2), Lucien Cordon and Robert Joyaut. Match details S ...

against

Red Star Olympique Red Star Football Club, also known simply as Red Star (), is a French association football club founded in Paris in 1897, and is the fourth oldest French football club, after Standard AC of Paris, Le Havre AC and Girondins de Bordeaux. In t ...

. In the match, Cornelius scored the team's opening goal, however, the club was unable to overcome the 3–1 deficit and were defeated 4–2. After his stint with Sète, Cornelius joined

Olympique Alès Olympique Alès is a French association football club founded in 1923, based in the commune of Alès. The Cévennes club currently plays in Championnat National 3 the fifth division of the French football league system. The club in the past h ...

and served in a player-coach role.

References

1898 births Year of death missing Footballers from Belvedere, London English men's footballers Men's association football forwards Erith & Belvedere F.C. players Olympique Alès players FC Sète 34 players English football managers {{England-footy-forward-1890s-stub