William Henry Light (11 June 1913 – 15 February 1979) 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 for

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

and

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 ...

as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

in the 1930s.

Football career

Southampton

Light was born in

Woolston, Southampton Woolston is a suburb of Southampton, Hampshire, located on the eastern bank of the River Itchen. It is bounded by the River Itchen, Sholing, Peartree Green, Itchen and Weston. The area has a strong maritime and aviation history. The former ...

and played his youth football for the works teams from the local

shipyard A shipyard, also called a dockyard or boatyard, is a place where ships are built and repaired. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Dockyards are sometimes more associated with maintenance a ...

s, John I. Thornycroft & Company and

Harland & Wolff Harland & Wolff is a British shipbuilding company based in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It specialises in ship repair, shipbuilding and offshore construction. Harland & Wolff is famous for having built the majority of the ocean liners for the Wh ...

. In May 1932, he joined

as an amateur, signing his first professional contract in September 1933. He made his first-team debut, replacing long-serving 'keeper

Bert Scriven Herbert Richard Scriven (2 February 1908 – 2001) was an English professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper for Southampton in the 1930s. Football career Scriven was born in Winsor on the edge of the New Forest and started his football ...

, in a 1–0 victory over Swansea Town on 5 February 1934. In only his fourth match, against

Hull City Hull City Association Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Kingston upon Hull, Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, that compete in the . They have played home games at the MKM Stadium since moving ...

at The Dell on 24 February, he displaced his left

knee cap The patella, also known as the kneecap, is a flat, rounded triangular bone which articulates with the femur (thigh bone) and covers and protects the anterior articular surface of the knee joint. The patella is found in many tetrapods, such as m ...

in a collision, putting him out of the game for several months. He eventually returned to the team in March 1935 and retained his place for the rest of the 1934–35 season. He continued as the first choice custodian for the start of the "Saints"

golden jubilee A golden jubilee marks a 50th anniversary. It variously is applied to people, events, and nations. Bangladesh In Bangladesh, golden jubilee refers the 50th anniversary year of the separation from Pakistan and is called in Bengali ''"সু ...

season. By now, he had gained a reputation as one of the country's leading goalkeepers and in March 1936, with the club in financial difficulties, he was sold to First Division

for a fee of £2,000, causing "a storm of protest" among the club's fans.

West Bromwich Albion

The Hawthorns The Hawthorns is an all-seater association football, football stadium in West Bromwich, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England, with a capacity of 26,688. It has been the home of EFL Championship, Championship club West Bromwich Albion F ...

, Light was understudy to

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

international Harold Pearson and in his three years with the "Baggies", he only made 30 appearances in all. In a league match at

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, which competes in the . Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, it changed its name to Stoke in 1878 and then to Stoke City in 1925 after Stoke ...

on 4 February 1937, he conceded 10 goals in Albion's heaviest defeat 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 ...

Colchester United – player and coach

Light joined newly formed

Colchester United Colchester United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Colchester, Essex, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1937, the club spent its earl ...

, then in the Southern League, as a player-coach in 1938, helping the new club claim the Southern League title at the end of his first season. After the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, he continued his association with the club, as a trainer, until his eventual retirement in 1968.

Honours

Club

Colchester United *

Southern Football League The Southern League is a men's football competition featuring semi-professional clubs from the South and Midlands of England. Together with the Isthmian League and the Northern Premier League it forms levels seven and eight of the English fo ...

champions: 1938–39

References

External links

Video of Light training with Southampton in 1934
{{DEFAULTSORT:Light, Billy 1913 births Footballers from Southampton 1993 deaths English footballers Association football goalkeepers English Football League players Southern Football League players Southampton F.C. players West Bromwich Albion F.C. players Colchester United F.C. players