William Adams (3 November 1902 – 15 March 1963) 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 at right-half or right-back 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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

and

Southend United Southend United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of English football. Southend are known as ...

in the 1920s and 1930s.

Football career

Born in

Tynemouth Tynemouth () is a coastal town in the metropolitan borough of North Tyneside, North East England. It is located on the north side of the mouth of the River Tyne, hence its name. It is 8 mi (13 km) east-northeast of Newcastle upon T ...

, Adams began his footballing career with Sunderland Colliery before moving south to join Guildford United. He made his debut for Southampton on 27 August 1927, but waited over three years for his next first team appearance. He went on to become club

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

in the 1931–32 season, and totalled 205 league and cup appearances. Adams joined West Ham in 1936 for a fee of £500, and scored on his debut against his old club in a 2–0 victory at The Dell on 21 November 1936. He did not stay in east London long, however, and after three league appearances transferred to

in January 1937. He retired later that year to run the Half Way Inn at

Chandler's Ford Chandler's Ford (originally The Ford and historically Chandlersford) is a largely residential area and civil parish in the Eastleigh (borough), Borough of Eastleigh in Hampshire, England. It has a population of 21,436 in the 2011 UK Census. Cha ...

, where he remained for 26 years.

References

External links

Famous Football Teams In Training No. 3 (1934)
(video) at

British Pathé British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Adams, Bill 1902 births 1963 deaths Sportspeople from Tynemouth Footballers from Tyne and Wear English footballers Association football defenders Southampton F.C. players West Ham United F.C. players Southend United F.C. players Guildford City F.C. players English Football League players