Ernest Simms (23 July 1891 – 11 October 1971) 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 was best known as 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 ...

centre forward. He was the first

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 ...

to play for

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 ...

while playing for a Third Division club.

Career

Luton Town

Simms was born in

Easington, County Durham Easington, also known as Easington Village, is a village and civil parish in eastern County Durham, England. It is located at the junction of the A182 and B1283, leading north-west to Hetton-le-Hole and south east to Horden. It is near the ...

, and after playing for local clubs, South Shields Adelaide and Murton Colliery Welfare, he joined

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. As the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. In Barnsley, the population was 96,888 while the wider Borough has ...

in 1912, before moving south to join

in the summer of 1913. Simms joined the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

at the outbreak of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

in August 1914, joining the Football Battalion, a unit made up of professional footballers which was attached to the

Middlesex Regiment The Middlesex Regiment (Duke of Cambridge's Own) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 until 1966. The regiment was formed, as the Duke of Cambridge's Own (Middlesex Regiment), in 1881 as part of the Childers Re ...

. He was

discharged Discharge may refer to Expel or let go * Discharge, the act of firing a gun * Discharge, or termination of employment, the end of an employee's duration with an employer * Military discharge, the release of a member of the armed forces from serv ...

in 1915 and re-enlisted with the

Royal Field Artillery The Royal Field Artillery (RFA) of the British Army provided close artillery support for the infantry. It came into being when created as a distinct arm of the Royal Regiment of Artillery on 1 July 1899, serving alongside the other two arms of t ...

. During the war he suffered a savage disabling leg wound which left him with serious muscle damage and a permanent limp. Simms was discharged less than a month before the

armistice with Germany The Armistice of 11 November 1918 was the armistice signed at Le Francport near Compiègne that ended fighting on land, sea, and air in World War I between the Entente and their last remaining opponent, Germany. Previous armistices ...

. Despite the noticeable limp and ungainly running style, which always attracted the attention of passers-by whatever the weather, each and every night Simms returned to Luton's

Kenilworth Road Kenilworth Road is an association football stadium in Luton, Bedfordshire, England. It has been the home ground of Luton Town F.C., Luton Town Football Club since 1905. The stadium has also hosted women's and youth international matches, includ ...

ground in a despairing effort to regain fitness and play once again. For the duration of the war the ground was closed, but Simms gained entry to the ground each night by climbing up a drain pipe with the ''"agility and ease of a practised cat-burglar"''. He then stripped down to his vest and underpants and raced up and down the terraces and completed lap after lap of the cinder track surrounding the pitch. This went on for months, until one morning the wartime caretaker arrived at the ground and noticed footprints in the deep snow. Fearing there was a burglar at large the police laid a trap and pounced on him the following evening, leaving Simms no choice but to confess everything. The Simms case became a cause célèbre; his spirit and determination matched the national wartime mood. A special board meeting was convened whereby it was determined that his dedication and courage should be rewarded – Luton Town gave him another professional contract, and Simms dominated wartime football – he scored 40 goals during his first year back, the 1916–17 season. By the time Luton lined up for the first match of the post-war era, when Luton played in the Southern League, Ernie Simms was the club's regular centre forward. He didn't do very well at first, as the standard of wartime football hadn't been as high – however, the club kept faith in him, and by 1920–21, Luton's first season in

the League ''The League'' is an American sitcom that aired on FX and later FXX from October 29, 2009, to December 9, 2015, for a total of seven seasons. The series, set in Chicago, Illinois, is a semi-improvised comedy show about a fantasy football league ...

since 1900, Simms was back to form scoring 28 goals in 42 games, nearly half of Luton's 61 overall. He received his first call into an England squad in late 1920 as a non-playing reserve, before winning his first, and only, cap a year later. 22 October 1921 saw Simms make history at

Windsor Park Windsor Park is a football stadium in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It is the home ground of Linfield F.C. who own the land the stadium is built on, while the Irish Football Association own and operate the stadium and pay Linfield an annual rent ...

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...

– becoming the first Third Division centre forward ever to play for

. The match ended in a 1–1 draw, and Luton's team of the time was so strong that the

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

team included Luton's other two forwards, Louis Bookman and Allan Mathieson.

Later career

Simms moved up to the

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

when he was sold to his home-town club,

South Shields South Shields () is a coastal town in South Tyneside, Tyne and Wear, England. It is on the south bank of the mouth of the River Tyne. Historically, it was known in Roman times as Arbeia, and as Caer Urfa by Early Middle Ages. According to the 20 ...

, in the spring of 1922, where he remained for two years before joining

Stockport County Stockport County Football Club are a professional football club in Stockport, England, who compete in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1883 as Heaton Norris Rovers, they were renamed Stockport Co ...

, also in the Second Division, in January 1924. After two and a half years with the club, he moved to

Scunthorpe & Lindsey United Scunthorpe United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, England. The side currently competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The te ...

for eighteen months, before finishing his career with

York City York City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of York, North Yorkshire, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team compete in the National League, at the fifth tier of the English football league sys ...

in 1928, playing in 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 T ...

. Although he never played for England again, he did captain an FA XI on a tour of Australia in 1925. After retiring from football, he returned to live in

Luton Luton () is a town and unitary authority with borough status, in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 census, the Luton built-up area subdivision had a population of 211,228 and its built-up area, including the adjacent towns of Dunstable an ...

, working at

Vauxhall Motors Vauxhall Motors LimitedCompany No. 00135767. Incorporated 12 May 1914, name changed from Vauxhall Motors Limited to General Motors UK Limited on 16 April 2008, reverted to Vauxhall Motors Limited on 18 September 2017. () is a British car compa ...

and assisting their works side.

References

Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Simms, Ernie 1891 births 1971 deaths Footballers from South Shields English footballers England international footballers Barnsley F.C. players Luton Town F.C. players Scunthorpe United F.C. players South Shields F.C. (1889) players Stockport County F.C. players York City F.C. players English Football League players Midland Football League players Southern Football League players British Army personnel of World War I Middlesex Regiment soldiers Royal Field Artillery soldiers Murton A.F.C. players Association football forwards Fulham F.C. wartime guest players Military personnel from County Durham