Charles Webb (4 March 1879 – January 1939) 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

outside left 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 Scotland in the 1900s.

Football career

Webb was born in

Higham Ferrers Higham Ferrers is a market town and civil parish in the Nene Valley in North Northamptonshire, England, close to the Cambridgeshire and Bedfordshire borders. It forms a single built-up area with Rushden to the south and has an estimated populati ...

, Northamptonshire and trained as a harness-maker. After playing football for his village team, he joined

Rushden Rushden is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in North Northamptonshire, England, around east of Northampton. The parish is on the border with Bedfordshire, north of Bedford. The parish of Rushden covers an area of some ...

of the

Midland League The Midland Football League is an English football league that was founded in 2014 by the merger of the former Midland Alliance and Midland Combination. The league has four divisions that sit at levels 9–12 of the football pyramid. History Th ...

in 1898. After two seasons with Rushden, in 1900 he moved to

Kettering Kettering is a market and industrial town in North Northamptonshire, England. It is located north of London and north-east of Northampton, west of the River Ise, a tributary of the River Nene. The name means "the place (or territory) of Ket ...

who had just been admitted to the Southern League as Midland League champions. Kettering finished their inaugural season in the Southern League 11th in the table. 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 ...

, Kettering defeated

Chesterfield Chesterfield may refer to: Places Canada * Rural Municipality of Chesterfield No. 261, Saskatchewan * Chesterfield Inlet, Nunavut United Kingdom * Chesterfield, Derbyshire, a market town in England ** Chesterfield (UK Parliament constitue ...

of the

Football League Second Division The Football League Second Division was the second level division in the English football league system between 1892 and 1992. Following the foundation of the FA Premier League, the Football League divisions were renumbered and the third ti ...

in the first round, with Webb scoring both Kettering goals in the replay (won 2–1 aet), only to be defeated 5–0 in the next round by

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

. His cup exploits brought him to the attention of

Leicester Fosse Leicester City Football Club is an English professional football club based in Leicester in the East Midlands of England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home ...

of the

who signed him in May 1901. Webb played in all but two of Leicester's league and cup matches in the 1901–02 season, scoring three goals. It was at

Filbert Street Filbert Street was a football stadium in Leicester, England, which served as the home of Leicester City F.C. from 1891 until 2002. Although officially titled the City Business Stadium in the early 1990s, it remained known almost exclusively b ...

that he first teamed up with Bert Dainty, with whom he was later to play at Southampton (1904–1905) and Dundee (1905–1908). At the end of the season, he returned to the Southern League to join

Wellingborough Wellingborough ( ) is a large market and commuter town in the unitary authority area of North Northamptonshire in the ceremonial county of Northamptonshire, England, 65 miles from London and from Northampton on the north side of the River Nen ...

where he spent a season, followed by a year back at Kettering, before moving to the Southern League champions,

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 ...

, in May 1904 to replace Dick Evans who had been forced to retire through ill health and injuries. Webb joined the "Saints" with a reputation as a "''brilliant wing man (who) had a fine turn of speed, with his centres and long shots being particular features of his play''". He made his debut in the opening match of the 1904–05 season, a 2–1 victory a

Luton Town Luton Town Football Club () is a professional association football club based in the town of Luton, Bedfordshire, England, that competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1885, it is nicknam ...

. During his one season at The Dell, Webb was in and out of the side making a total of 19 first-team appearances with five goals, with former

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 ...

international

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 ...

competing with him for the outside-right berth. In the summer of 1905,

Dundee Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...

made him an "irresistible offer" to move to

Dens Park Dens Park, officially known as Kilmac Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a football stadium in Dundee, Scotland, which is the home of club Dundee F.C. and has a capacity of . Tannadice Park, the home of rivals Dundee United, is just 200 yards ...

along with his former Leicester and Southampton teammate Bert Dainty. Webb remained with Dundee for three seasons, helping them to the runners-up position in the

Scottish Football League The Scottish Football League (SFL) was a league featuring professional and semi-professional football clubs mostly from Scotland.One club, Berwick Rangers, is based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, which is located approximately 4 km south ...

1906–07 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 ...

. In March 1908, he returned to England to join

Manchester City Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...

of the

Football League First Division The Football League First Division was a division of the Football League in England from 1888 until 2004. It was the top division in the English football league system from the season 1888–89 until 1991–92, a century in which the First ...

, where he played the last eleven matches of the 1907–08 season, scoring three goals to help City reach third in the table. He remained at

Maine Road Maine Road was a football stadium in Moss Side, Manchester, England, that was home to Manchester City F.C. from 1923 to 2003. It hosted FA Cup semi-finals, the Charity Shield, a League Cup final and England matches. Maine Road's highest atte ...

until the end of the next season, when City were relegated, although he only made eleven appearances, as cover for George Dorsett. In June 1909, Webb moved back to Scotland, where he played out his career with

Airdrieonians Airdrieonians Football Club is a Scottish professional football team in Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, who are members of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) and play in Scottish League One. They were formed in 2002 as Airdrie United ...

Later career

After retiring from his football career, Webb managed a large bakery business in

, back in Northamptonshire, close to where he was born.

Honours

;

runners-up:

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Webb, Charles 1879 births 1939 deaths People from Higham Ferrers Sportspeople from Wellingborough English men's footballers Men's association football forwards Kettering Town F.C. players Leicester City F.C. players Wellingborough Town F.C. players Southampton F.C. players Dundee F.C. players Manchester City F.C. players Airdrieonians F.C. (1878) players English Football League players Southern Football League players Scottish Football League players Footballers from Northamptonshire