Charles William Wallace Midgley (20 January 1885 – 13 December 1942) 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 as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

for Spanish club

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly referred to as Barcelona and colloquially known as Barça (), is a professional football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish football. Founded ...

. Along with his younger brother,

Percival Percival (, also spelled Perceval, Parzival), alternatively called Peredur (), was one of King Arthur's legendary Knights of the Round Table. First mentioned by the French author Chrétien de Troyes in the tale ''Perceval, the Story of the G ...

, he was part of the first great team of

, with whom he scored 105 goals in just 102 matches, although this tally includes goals scored in friendlies and unofficial games.

Club career

Born in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, his family moved to

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

when he was still a child. He began his career in 1905 at

FC Internacional The Futbol Club Internacional, commonly referred to a was as FC Internacional, was a football team based in Barcelona, Spain. Founded in 1901, FC Internacional had an "impasse" in its activities after the 1905-06 academic year, resuming them in 19 ...

, featuring alongside the likes of

Enrique Peris Enrique Peris de Vargas (27 February 1887 - 17 February 1953) was a Spanish footballer who played as a left winger. He spent most of his career at Barcelona, with whom he played over 300 matches. Club career Born in Barcelona, he began his career ...

and Paco Bru. He helped the club achieve a runner-up finish in the 1905–06 Catalan championship, losing the title to

X Sporting Club The X Sporting Club, officially founded as Football Club X, was a football team based in Barcelona, Spain, which existed during the years 1902 and 1908. They won the Catalan football championship, Catalan championship three times in a row between ...

. In 1906, the club had to suspend its activities due to a lack of players, and while most of the remaining players joined

, Wallace instead went to FC Català, but eventually also joined Barça in 1907. In 1908, he played one game for Madrid CF on loan from Barcelona, a common practice at the time, when it was allowed to call up players from other teams. After that match, he continued to play for Barcelona. Wallace was an integral piece of Barcelona's first great team in the early 1910s, which had the likes of

Carles Comamala Carles Comamala López-Del Pan (17 April 1889 – 4 August 1983) was an orthopedic surgeon by profession and a football player for Barcelona between 1903 and 1911. He was a director of Barcelona in 1909–1911. Early life and Career Born in Ma ...

Alfredo Massana Alfredo Massana Urgellés (27 July 1891 - 24 March 1924), was a Spanish footballer who played as a midfielder for Espanyol and FC Barcelona. He had a great placement and vision of the game. Known as a great dribbler, he was one of the best Catalan ...

Manuel Amechazurra Manuel Amechazurra was a Philippine-born Spanish footballer who played as a defender. His nickname was Amecha. He is best known for his second spell at FC Barcelona, playing a total of 137 games in the first team and scoring 20 goals. Amechazur ...

and Pepe Rodríguez, as well as former FC Internacional teammates Bru and Peris. Together with them, he helped the club win the Catalan championships three times in a row between 1909 and 1911, along with two Pyrenees Cups (1910 and 1911), and one

Copa del Rey The Campeonato de España–Copa de Su Majestad el Rey, commonly known as Copa del Rey or simply La Copa and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–36) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–76), is an annual knockout footbal ...

in 1910, in which he proved to be vital since in the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

he netted Barça's first goal in an eventual 3–2 comeback win over Español de Madrid. In October 1911, President of Barcelona

Joan Gamper Hans Max Gamper-Haessig (; 22 November 1877 – 30 July 1930), commonly known as Joan Gamper (), was a Swiss-born football executive and versatile athlete. He founded football clubs in Switzerland and Spain, most notably FC Barcelona and FC Zür ...

expelled several players from the club including Wallace Midgley, following a friendly match against

Valencia Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, Valencia and the Municipalities of Spain, third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is ...

, who were accused of keeping the proceeds, causing a schism in the club with the advocates of amateurism. Afterwards, Charles signed for

RCD Espanyol Reial Club Deportiu Espanyol de Barcelona (; "Royal Spanish Sports Club of Barcelona"), commonly known as Espanyol, is a professional sports club based in Barcelona, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of the Spanish football league sy ...

together with his brother, and shortly before the end of the year, both joined Casual SC, together with other Barcelona dissidents such as

José Quirante José Quirante Pineda (10 May 1883 in Alicante, Spain – 30 May 1964 in Barcelona, Spain) was a footballer who played as a midfielder, being one of the first players to play for both FC Barcelona and Real Madrid. He is also remembered for being ...

and the Comamala brothers ( Carles and Arsenio). In 1913, Casual folded due to financial reasons and the Wallace brothers returned to FC Barcelona, for whom Charles played until his retirement in 1915.

Honours

Club

;

* Catalan championship: **Champions (3): 1908–09, 1909–10 and 1910–11 * Pyrenees Cup: **Champions (2): 1910 and 1911 *

: **Champions (1): 1910 ;

* Catalan championship: **Champions (1): 1911–12

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wallace Midgley, Charles 1885 births 1942 deaths Footballers from the London Borough of Lewisham English footballers Men's association football forwards FC Barcelona players Real Madrid CF players RCD Espanyol footballers English expatriate sportspeople in Spain Expatriate footballers in Spain English expatriate footballers