William Tempest (8 January 1893 – 1945) 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 ...

who played on the

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. He played 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 ...

between 1912 and 1924, before finishing his career in 1926 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 ...

Career

Tempest played for Trentham in two spells around a spell as a professional at

Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The team have played home games at the Kirklees Stadium since moving from Leeds Road in 1994. Th ...

in the 1910–11 season, the club's first in the Football League. However, he never made his debut at

Leeds Road Leeds Road was a football stadium in Huddersfield, England. It operated from its construction in 1908 until the Kirklees Stadium was opened nearby for the 1994–95 season. It was the home of Huddersfield Town A.F.C. from 1908 to 1994 and was ...

. He signed with

in 1912. He played four games in 1912–13, as Stoke were

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after finishing bottom of the Southern League Division One. He scored his first goal 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 ...

in a 2–0 win over Newport County, making 11 appearances in 1913–14. He hit six goals in 28 games in 1914–15, helping the club to the Southern League Division Two title with his accurate crosses to the free-scoring Arthur Watkin. He remained with the club throughout

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, playing 13 games in 1915–16, one game in 1916–17 and 1917–18, and nine games in 1918–19. He scored one goal in 36

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 ...

games in 1919–20. Tempest then hit ten goals in 38 appearances in 1920–21, before helping Stoke to achieve

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with nine goals in 46 appearances in 1921–22. He scored two goals in 20 First Division games in 1922–23, as the club were relegated straight back out of the top-flight; Tempest missed the end of season run-in with a broken collarbone. He scored against Manchester United at both Old Trafford and in the return fixture in 1923–24, his only strikes of the campaign. However, he was made available for

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after refusing to accept a new

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on lower pay. He was sold to local rivals

for £1,000 in June 1924. He was a regular feature in the 1924–25 season, scoring against Stoke in a 2–0 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 condit ...

on 24 January. However, he suffered an injury in December 1925 and was forced to retire after the 1925–26 season.

Style of play

A slight figure at just tall, Tempest used his pace to beat opposing full-backs. '' The Sentinel'' described his "graceful progression, an immobile body being borne along on a very mobile pair of legs. He used to have a knack of taking the ball very cleverly across the toes of the man who tackled him and another characteristic of his play is to double back and centre with his right."

Career statistics

Source:

Honours

Stoke * Southern League Division Two: 1914–15 *

Football League Second Division The Football League Second Division was the second level division in the English football league system between 1892 and 1992. Following the foundation of the FA Premier League, the Football League divisions were renumbered and the third t ...

second-place promotion: 1921–22

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tempest, Billy 1893 births 1945 deaths Footballers from Stoke-on-Trent English men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Huddersfield Town A.F.C. players Stoke City F.C. players Port Vale F.C. players English Football League players