Robert Samuel Fairman (13 July 1883 – 1968) 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 full back or wing half. He scored two goals in 38 appearances 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 ...

over two spells for

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

, and played 90 Southern League matches for West Ham United. Fairman was born in

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 ...

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

. He began his football career with

, although he never played a first-team match, before joining

in 1907. He played regularly at

left half A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

at the start of the 1908–09 season, but lost his place when the club signed Thomas Daykin, and he moved to West Ham United, then a Southern League club, at the end of the season. He spent three years with West Ham, playing more than 100 games in all competitions, before returning to Birmingham in 1912. He played little first-team football after his return, and retired from the game in 1917.Matthews, pp. 86, 159–61.

References

1883 births 1968 deaths Footballers from Southampton English men's footballers Men's association football fullbacks Men's association football wing halves Southampton F.C. players Birmingham City F.C. players West Ham United F.C. players English Football League players Southern Football League players {{England-footy-defender-1880s-stub