Albert Hillman Paddington (30 June 1881 – 3 April 1932) was an English professional

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 a half-back 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

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 ...

in the 1900s. During his career he was always known as "Paddy".

Football career

Paddington was born at Bishopstoke, Hampshire and played for various local clubs, while working as a painter for

London and South Western Railway The London and South Western Railway (LSWR, sometimes written L&SWR) was a railway company in England from 1838 to 1922. Originating as the London and Southampton Railway, its network extended to Dorchester and Weymouth, to Salisbury, Exeter ...

at the

Eastleigh Railway Works Eastleigh Works is a locomotive, carriage and wagon building and repair facility in the town of Eastleigh, in the county of Hampshire in England. History LSWR The London and South Western Railway (LSWR) opened a carriage and wagon works at Eas ...

. He joined

of the Southern League as an amateur in September 1900, aged 19, before turning professional the following May. He was one of the few local players who made the grade at this time in a side containing several

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 ...

internationals and Scottish imports. At the "Saints", Paddington spent most of his career in the reserves, where he was appointed captain soon after joining the club. He made his first-team debut when he took the place of Bertram Sharp 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 ...

for the game against

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on 13 October 1900. He retained his place for the next match and made one further appearance in February, as Southampton went on to claim the Southern League title for the fourth time in five years. In the following season, Paddington made his first League appearance for nearly a year when, on Saturday 1 February, he replaced Bert Lee, who had been injured three days earlier with a "''nasty kick to the head''" in the replay of the First Round FA Cup match against the cup holders,

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. The team has playe ...

. Paddington retained his place for the second replay at

Elm Park Elm Park is a suburban planned community in East London within the London Borough of Havering. Located east-northeast of Charing Cross, it is identified as a district centre in the London Plan with several streets of shops and a priority for ...

ground on Monday 3 February. In the first half, Paddington struggled against the pace of the Spurs' forwards, including John Cameron and Sandy Brown but, with the assistance of

George Molyneux George Molyneux (24 July 1875 – 14 April 1942) was a professional footballer who played for Everton, Southampton and Southend United, and later became Southend's manager. He played in the 1902 FA Cup Final for Southampton, and won four En ...

, survived a goalless first-half. In an impressive second-half, Paddington completely "''shackled''" Cameron and Brown and although Spurs scored first through Jack Kirwan, following a slip by

C. B. Fry Charles Burgess Fry (25 April 1872 – 7 September 1956) was an English sportsman, teacher, writer, editor and publisher, who is best remembered for his career as a cricketer. John Arlott described him with the words: "Charles Fry could b ...

, the Saints ran out as victors with goals from

Archie Turner Arthur "Archie" Turner (June 1877 – 4 April 1925) was a professional footballer who played at outside-right in the 1900 and 1902 FA Cup Finals for Southampton, and made two appearances for England. Playing career Archie Turner was born in ...

and Albert Brown. Paddington was in and out of the first-team for the rest of the season, making a further six league appearances as cover for Lee or

Samuel Meston Samuel Meston (16 January 1872 – 14 August 1948) was a Scottish professional footballer who played as a half-back for Stoke and Southampton. Whilst with Southampton, he appeared in two FA Cup Finals and won six Southern League championship ...

(at

right-half A midfielder is an Glossary of association football terms#O, 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 #Cent ...

), but was not selected again in 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 ...

as the Saints reached the cup final for the second time in three seasons. After making only three appearances in

1902–03 Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number), the natural number following 18 and preceding 20 * one of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (film), a 1987 science fiction film Music ...

, Paddington left the club in the 1903

close-season In an organized sports league, a typical season is the portion of one year in which regulated games of the sport are in session: for example, in Major League Baseball the season lasts approximately from the last week of March to the last week of Se ...

, and moved along the south coast to join

. After one season in the Southern League with Brighton in which he made regular appearances in a season when Brighton struggled to avoid finishing at the bottom of the table, Paddington returned to Hampshire to re-join Eastleigh Athletic in September 1904.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Paddington, Bert 1881 births People from Bishopstoke 1932 deaths English men's footballers Men's association football defenders Southampton F.C. players Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. players Southern Football League players Eastleigh Athletic F.C. players Footballers from Hampshire