Charles Partridge (1867 – after 1898) 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 made 29 appearances in

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in Association football around the wor ...

for

Small Heath Small Heath is an area in south-east Birmingham, West Midlands, England situated on and around the Coventry Road about from the city centre. History Small Heath, which has been settled and used since Roman times, sits on top of a small hill. ...

. He played as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

. Partridge was born in

Wednesbury Wednesbury () is a market town in Sandwell in the county of West Midlands, England. It is located near the source of the River Tame. Historically part of Staffordshire in the Hundred of Offlow, at the 2011 Census the town had a population of 3 ...

, Staffordshire. He played football for Wednesbury Old Athletic before joining

in 1890. He played two games in Small Heath's second season in the

Football Alliance The Football Alliance was an association football league in England which ran for three seasons, from 1889–90 to 1891–92. History In 1888, the same year the Football League was founded, The Combination was established by clubs who had been ...

, as a replacement for Chris Charsley and once in their second season in

, replacing George Hollis. In the 1894–95 season, the club's first in the First Division, Partridge was first-choice goalkeeper, and had the dubious honour of being in goal for the club's record defeat, 9–1, away to

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...

in January 1895.Matthews, p. 143. He lost his place the following season to Jim Roach, and went on to play for a variety of clubs in the Black Country,

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...

and north

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a county in the West Midlands of England. The area that is now Worcestershire was absorbed into the unified Kingdom of England in 927, at which time it was constituted as a county (see H ...

References

1867 births Year of death missing Sportspeople from Wednesbury English footballers Association football goalkeepers Wednesbury Old Athletic F.C. players Birmingham City F.C. players Willenhall F.C. players Redditch United F.C. players Football Alliance players English Football League players Date of birth missing Place of death missing {{England-footy-goalkeeper-stub