Cyril William King (16 July 1915 – 1981) 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 le ...

who played his entire career as a half back, with

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 the 1930s.

Playing career

Born in

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymouth ...

he was capped for

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

schools when only fifteen years old, playing his youth football for Plymouth United. He joined

as a trainee in November 1932, signing as a professional the following April. According to Holley & Chalk's "The Alphabet of the Saints" he "used his sturdy build to good effect and served the club well for five years". His first appearance for the

Division Two NCL Division Two The NCL or National Conference League Division Two (known as the Kingstone Press NCL Division Two) League winners {, class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;" , - , colspan=4 style="text-align:center;" , NCL DIVISION TWO , ...

side was away to

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End ...

on 1 December 1934 as a replacement for

Stan Woodhouse Stanley Woodhouse (10 February 1899 – 18 March 1977) was an English footballer who played initially as an inside forward and later as a half back with Bury and Southampton in the 1920s and 1930s. Playing career Woodhouse was born in Warringt ...

. He made a total of 13 appearances that season as The Saints narrowly avoided relegation. The following season had a similar pattern with King replacing the aging Woodhouse, making 21 appearances. In 1936–37 he lost his place briefly to Bobby Whitelaw, who had been signed by new manager

George Goss George Goss is a former naval officer and football manager, who was manager of Southampton F.C. for the 1936–37 season. Goss served in the Royal Navy during World War I, and played football for the naval side. On leaving the navy, he joined t ...

as a replacement for the now-retired Woodhouse. On regaining his place, King formed a useful partnership with fellow half-backs Bill Kennedy and

Billy Kingdon William Issacher Garfield Kingdon (25 June 1907 – 18 March 1977) was an English footballer who played, as a wing-half, over 240 games for Aston Villa. Towards the end of his career, he joined Southampton, before becoming a manager in lower-l ...

, but again The Saints struggled to avoid relegation finishing 19th in the table. For the following season he again lost his place, this time to

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

international

Alf Day Alfred Day (2 October 1907 – 15 November 1997) was a Welsh professional association football, footballer who played at wing half for Tottenham Hotspur F.C., Tottenham Hotspur, Millwall F.C., Millwall, Southampton F.C., Southampton, Tranmere R ...

who had arrived on a free transfer from

Millwall Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Limehouse, north of Greenwich and Deptford, east ...

. Once King got back into the side in December he played in the remainder of the season's matches. He started the following season but after the match against

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was formed in 1878 and has pla ...

on 1 October 1938, he was replaced by the former

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

player

Ray Parkin Raymond Edward Parkin (6 November 191019 June 2005) was an Australian naval seaman, writer, draftsman, artist and historian. He is noted for his memoirs of World War II (including his time as a prisoner-of-war), and for a major work on James Co ...

who had dropped back from his previous role as an

inside forward 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 ...

. Although he was retained by Southampton, he returned to Plymouth in 1939 and had started work in the Devonport dockyards before

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. The River Skerne flows through the town; it is a tributary of the River Tees. The Tees itself flows south of the town. In the 19th century, Darlington underwen ...

found he was available and signed him on loan in July. The outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

prevented him making any appearances for Darlington.

Career after football

During the war he joined the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

serving in North Africa, and the Burma Campaign as a Sergeant. After the war he returned to

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

and became a

prison A prison, also known as a jail, gaol (dated, standard English, Australian, and historically in Canada), penitentiary (American English and Canadian English), detention center (or detention centre outside the US), correction center, correc ...

officer.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:King, Cyril 1915 births 1981 deaths Footballers from Plymouth, Devon English men's footballers Darlington F.C. players Southampton F.C. players Royal Air Force personnel of World War II British prison officers Men's association football midfielders