William Ewart Harrison (27 December 1886 – August 1948) 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 at

outside right Forwards (also known as attackers) are Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring Goal (sport)#Association footbal ...

. After a spell with

Crewe Alexandra Crewe Alexandra Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Crewe, Cheshire, that competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Railwaymen' because of ...

, he spent 1907 to 1920 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 ...

, the

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 ...

in his first season there. He was later inducted into the club's Hall of Fame. He spent 1920 to 1922 with

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

, and later had one-season spells 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 ...

and

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the count ...

Career

Harrison played for Hough United, Crewe South End, Willaston White Star and

, before signing for fellow

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 ...

side

for a £400 fee in summer 1907. His first season with the club ended in

glory, as they won the trophy after defeating

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End ...

3–1 in

the final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

, with Harrison scoring a fine individual goal. He remained at Molineux for nine full seasons, and 345 games in total. During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

he guested 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 ...

. He played seven times for the Potters in 1915–16, 31 times in 1916–17, 33 times in 1917–18, and 28 times in 1918–19, scoring a total of 17 goals at the

Victoria Ground The Victoria Ground was the home ground of Stoke City from 1878 until 1997, when the club relocated to the Britannia Stadium after 119 years. At the time of its demolition it was the oldest operational ground in the Football League. History ...

. Stoke enjoyed some measure of success in the war leagues, finishing as runners-up of the Lancashire Section Secondary Competition Group D in 1916–17, champions of the Lancashire Section Primary Competition in 1917–18, and runners-up in both the Primary Competition and Group C in 1918–19. He returned to Wanderers for the 1919–20 season, as the club posted a 19th-place finish. Harrison moved to

in October 1920. He went on to score five goals in 46 appearances for the Red Devils, helping United to finish 13th in 1920–21, before they suffered relegation out of the First Division in 1921–22. He left

Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,310 it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after Wemb ...

and joined Second Division rivals

in September 1922. He enjoyed a positive start to the 1922–23 campaign, scoring the only goal of the game against former club Manchester United 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 was a first-team regular until an ankle injury in October 1922 put him out of action until January 1923. He regained his spot but was sold to

for £300 in June of that year. He helped the Dragons to a 16th-place finish in 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 ...

in 1923–24, before he departed the

Racecourse Ground The Racecourse Ground ( cy, Y Cae Ras) is a football stadium in Wrexham, Wales. It is the home of Wrexham A.F.C. It is the world's oldest international football stadium that still hosts international matches, having hosted Wales' first home i ...

at the age of 38.

Post-retirement

After retiring from football, Harrison was a pub landlord in

Tettenhall Tettenhall is an historic village within the City of Wolverhampton, England. Tettenhall became part of Wolverhampton in 1966, along with Bilston, Wednesfield and parts of Willenhall, Coseley and Sedgley. History Tettenhall's name derives fro ...

Wolverhampton Wolverhampton () is a city, metropolitan borough and administrative centre in the West Midlands, England. The population size has increased by 5.7%, from around 249,500 in 2011 to 263,700 in 2021. People from the city are called "Wulfrunian ...

. He had 10 children, and his wife gave birth to triplets on the day of the

1908 FA Cup Final The 1908 FA Cup Final was contested by Wolverhampton Wanderers and Newcastle United at Crystal Palace Park. Newcastle had just finished fourth in the First Division during this season, after winning the league in 1906–07. This was their thir ...

. He died in August 1948, aged 61.

Career statistics

Source:

Honours

Wolverhampton Wanderers *

1908 Events January * January 1 – The British ''Nimrod'' Expedition led by Ernest Shackleton sets sail from New Zealand on the ''Nimrod'' for Antarctica. * January 3 – A total solar eclipse is visible in the Pacific Ocean, and is the 46 ...

Stoke *Lancashire Section Primary Competition: 1917–18

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harrison, Billy 1886 births 1948 deaths Sportspeople from Northwich Footballers from Cheshire English footballers English Football League representative players Men's association football wingers Crewe Alexandra F.C. players Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. players Stoke City F.C. wartime guest players Manchester United F.C. players Port Vale F.C. players Wrexham A.F.C. players English Football League players