Ernest Harry Gill (24 August 1877 – 1 June 1950) was an English

amateur An amateur () is generally considered a person who pursues an avocation independent from their source of income. Amateurs and their pursuits are also described as popular, informal, autodidacticism, self-taught, user-generated, do it yourself, DI ...

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 made single appearances at

right-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

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 ...

in 1900 and for

Leicester Fosse Leicester City Football Club is an English professional association football, football club based in Leicester in the East Midlands of England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of English football league system, Eng ...

in 1901. He also made five appearances for

Leicestershire County Cricket Club Leicestershire County Cricket Club is one of eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Leicestershire. It has also been representative of the count ...

in 1901.

Football career

Gill was born in Mountsorrel, Leicestershire before moving to

South West England South West England, or the South West of England, is one of nine official regions of England. It consists of the counties of Bristol, Cornwall (including the Isles of Scilly), Dorset, Devon, Gloucestershire, Somerset and Wiltshire. Cities and ...

where he played as an amateur for White Star (

Poole Poole () is a large coastal town and seaport in Dorset, on the south coast of England. The town is east of Dorchester and adjoins Bournemouth to the east. Since 1 April 2019, the local authority is Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Counc ...

), Bridgwater Town and

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England, which compete in the , the second tier of English football. They have played their home games at Ashton Gate since moving from St John's Lane in 1904. The ...

(without making any first-team appearances). His performances earned him a call-up to represent the

Somerset County Football Association The Somerset County Football Association, also known as the Somerset FA, is the governing body of football in the county of Somerset. The association was formed in 1885. History The Somerset County Football Association was formed in 1885 ...

. After playing for

Grimsby Town Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that in the 2022–23 season will compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system, following the victory in ...

reserves, he was offered a trial by Southern League champions,

. He made his solitary appearance for the "Saints" on 17 March 1900, when he took the place of Peter Meechan at

against Sheppey United. Although the match was won 5–0 (with two goals each from 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 ...

internationals

Alf Milward Alfred Milward (12 September 1870 – 1 June 1941) was a professional footballer who played in the 1893 and 1897 FA Cup Finals for Everton and in the 1900 FA Cup Final for Southampton. Early career Born in Great Marlow, Milward was one of the ...

and Harry Wood), Gill had a poor game. Nonetheless, the Southampton board offered him a position with the club, which Gill decided to decline. He subsequently turned out for local rivals,

Freemantle Freemantle is a suburb and electoral ward in Southampton, England. There are similarly named places in Hampshire: notably Henry II's hunting lodge in Kingsclere; a suburb of Hannington, Hampshire, Hannington; and Freemantle Common in Bitterne. ...

, before moving back to his home county in 1901. He then signed for

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 ...

, making one appearance at

left-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

, replacing George Swift.

Cricket career

During the summer of 1901, Gill made five appearances for

Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ; postal abbreviation Leics.) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East Midlands, England. The county borders Nottinghamshire to the north, Lincolnshire to the north-east, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire t ...

, in which he scored a total of 23 runs and took 12 wickets, at averages of 11.50 and 34.41 respectively.

Family

His brother, George Gill also played cricket for Leicestershire, as well as for London County and

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gill, Ernest 1877 births 1950 deaths Sportspeople from Loughborough Footballers from Leicestershire English men's footballers Men's association football defenders Bridgwater United F.C. players Bristol City F.C. players Grimsby Town F.C. players Southampton F.C. players Freemantle F.C. players Leicester City F.C. players English Football League players Southern Football League players English cricketers Leicestershire cricketers Cricketers from Leicestershire