Robert Henry Weale (16 December 1905 – 8 December 1952) was a Welsh

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 as an

outside right Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

for various clubs in England and Wales in the 1920s and 1930s.

Football career

West Ham United

Weale was born in

Troed-y-rhiw Troed-y-rhiw (, translation: foot of the slope) is a large community village in the county borough of Merthyr Tydfil, Wales. Its population at the 2011 census was 5,296. It features the Troed-y-rhiw railway station. Governance The community ...

in Glamorgan and after playing youth football for Merthyr Tydfil he was signed by

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, hav ...

in March 1925. He made his first team debut on 10 October 1925, replacing Tommy Yews in a 1–0 victory over

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nottingham, England. The team participate in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Founded on the 25 November 1862, it is the ...

. He only made three First Division appearances for the "Hammers" in his two years with the club, before being transferred to

Swindon Town Swindon Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club has played home matches at the County Ground sin ...

in June 1927.

Swindon Town

He made his Swindon Town debut on 17 September 1927 in a

Third Division South The Third Division South 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 North with clubs elected to the League or relegated from Division Two allocated to ...

match against

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, south-east London, which compete in . Their home ground is The Valley, where the club have played since 1919. They have also played at The Mount in ...

(drawn 2–2). Weale was unable to displace the long serving Bertie Denyer on the right wing and it was only in April 1928 that he had a run in the first team when he played five matches, initially on the left (replacing Alec Thom) before switching to his favoured right wing. In the following season, he replaced Denyer for a run of thirteen matches from September, in which he scored seven goals (including twice against both

Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club (), commonly referred to simply as Brighton, is an English professional football club based in the city of Brighton and Hove. They compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league ...

and

Torquay United Torquay United Football Club is a professional football club based in Torquay, Devon, England. The team currently compete in the , the fifth tier of English football. They have played their home matches at Plainmoor since 1921 and are nicknamed ...

in consecutive matches). Once Denyer returned from injury in early December, Weale was transferred to

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 ...

Southampton

The "Saints" paid a then club record of £1000 to bring Weale to The Dell having been watching him for some time. He immediately replaced Bert Jepson in the No. 7 shirt and made his debut on 8 December 1928 in a 1–1 draw at

Clapton Orient Leyton Orient Football Club is a professional football club based in Leyton, East London, England, who compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. They are the second oldest football club in London to play at a profess ...

. A "fast, clever right winger", he made a promising start to his Southampton career, and scored a hat trick in a 4–0 victory over

on Boxing Day, following this with goals in the next two matches. His crosses helped the centre-forwards, Willie Haines (in 1928–29) and

Dick Rowley Richard William Morris Rowley DCM (13 January 1904 – 18 April 1984) was an Irish professional footballer who played as an inside-forward or centre-forward for Southampton, Tottenham Hotspur and Preston North End in the English Football L ...

(in 1929–30) to score 16 and 25 goals respectively. By the middle of the 1929–30 season, Weale's form had become erratic and he lost his place to Jepson. Despite this, the club offered him a new contract in the summer of 1930, with terms of £5 per week (both winter and summer) rising to £8 per week when in the first team. Weale declined the contract and decided to move back to Wales.

Later career

Weale spent the 1930–31 season with Cardiff City, for whom he made only five appearances before a spell in non-league football. He subsequently played for Newport County 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 ...

and then travelled to

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdom ...

to join

Glentoran Glentoran Football Club is a professional football club that plays in the NIFL Premiership. The club was founded in 1882. History Early history In 1914, Glentoran won the Vienna Cup, becoming the first United Kingdom team to win a European t ...

, before finishing his career back in the lower leagues in England.

Family

His younger brother, Tom, was also a professional footballer who had an unsuccessful trial with Southampton in 1929, before joining

. He subsequently had long spells 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 ...

and

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, Lancashire, Preston, at the confluence of the River C ...

References

External links

West Ham United profileSwindon Town profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Weale, Bobby 1905 births 1952 deaths Bath City F.C. players Association football forwards West Ham United F.C. players Cardiff City F.C. players Boston United F.C. players Guildford City F.C. players Newport County A.F.C. players Wrexham A.F.C. players Glentoran F.C. players Cheltenham Town F.C. players People from Troed-y-rhiw Sportspeople from Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Swindon Town F.C. players Southampton F.C. players Footballers from Merthyr Tydfil English Football League players Welsh footballers