Ezra Horton (20 August 1861 – 10 July 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

right-half A midfielder is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As #Cent ...

; he had the nickname "Ironsides". He played for

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 ...

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 ...

final in

1886 Events January–March * January 1 – Upper Burma is formally annexed to British Burma, following its conquest in the Third Anglo-Burmese War of November 1885. * January 5– 9 – Robert Louis Stevenson's novella ''Strange ...

1887 Events January–March * January 11 – Louis Pasteur's anti-rabies treatment is defended in the Académie Nationale de Médecine, by Dr. Joseph Grancher. * January 20 ** The United States Senate allows the Navy to lease Pearl Har ...

and

1888 In Germany, 1888 is known as the Year of the Three Emperors. Currently, it is the year that, when written in Roman numerals, has the most digits (13). The next year that also has 13 digits is the year 2388. The record will be surpassed as late ...

. His younger brother

Jack Jack may refer to: Places * Jack, Alabama, US, an unincorporated community * Jack, Missouri, US, an unincorporated community * Jack County, Texas, a county in Texas, USA People and fictional characters * Jack (given name), a male given name, ...

was also a footballer.

Career

Ezra Horton was born in

West Bromwich West Bromwich ( ) is a market town in the borough of Sandwell, West Midlands, England. Historically part of Staffordshire, it is north-west of Birmingham. West Bromwich is part of the area known as the Black Country, in terms of geography, ...

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands Cou ...

on 20 August 1861. He attended the Christ Church & Beeches Road Schools and signed for George Salter Works in 1880, before moving on to

in the same year. As a footballer Horton was a very sporting player, a largely defensive right—half who was good at heading, strong with his kicking and fearsome in the tackle, hence his nickname of "Ironsides". He actually played his first game for the West Bromwich Albion at St. George's in September 1882. After making guest appearances for

Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in . Vale are the only English Football League club not to be named after a place; their name being a reference to the valley o ...

in September 1884 and

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park ...

in March and April 1885, he turned professional with Albion in August 1885. Ezra Horton was most notable for his exploits in the

, in fact, Horton had the distinction of playing in each of the club's first 36 FA Cup ties, including Albion's first ever FA Cup tie, his senior debut against Wednesbury Town in November 1883. He picked up two runners-up medals and one winners medal. In the 1886 final, he was unable to prevent a 2–0 defeat 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. T ...

in a replay at the

Racecourse Ground The Racecourse Ground ( cy, Y Cae Ras) is a football stadium in Wrexham, Wales. It is the home of Wrexham A.F.C. It is the world's oldest international football stadium that still hosts international matches, having hosted Wales' first home i ...

Derby Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby gai ...

. He was again on the losing side in the 1887 final, as

claimed a 2–0 victory at

The Oval The Oval, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Kia Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, located in the borough of Lambeth, in south London. The Oval has been the home ground of Surrey County Cricket Club since ...

. It proved to be third time lucky for Horton, as he helped the "Throstles" to a 2–1 victory over

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional football club in Preston, Lancashire, England, who currently play in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league syste ...

at The Oval in the 1888 final. Horton, playing as a wing-half, made his League debut on 22 September 1888 at

Leamington Road Leamington Road was a football ground in Blackburn in England. It was the home ground of Blackburn Rovers between 1881 and 1890. History Blackburn Rovers moved to Leamington Road from their Alexandra Meadows ground in 1881.Paul Smith & Shirley S ...

, the then home of

. West Bromwich Albion were defeated by the home team 6–2. Ezra Horton appeared in eight of the 22 League matches played by West Bromwich Albion during the 1888–89 season. Ezra also played in the FA Cup semi—final against Preston North End on 16 March 1889, Albion losing 1–0. (registration & fee required) In all, he appeared in more than 350 matches for West Bromwich Albion across all competitions – including local cup—ties and friendlies – during his nine—years association with the club. He retired from playing football in June 1891, and in 1895 he became a

referee A referee is an official, in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The official tasked with this job may be known by a variety of other titl ...

and also a

hockey Hockey is a term used to denote a family of various types of both summer and winter team sports which originated on either an outdoor field, sheet of ice, or dry floor such as in a gymnasium. While these sports vary in specific rules, numbers o ...

international International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations". International may also refer to: Music Albums * ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011 * ''International'' (New Order album), 2002 * ''International'' (The T ...

. Note: Ezra's brother John Horton, was also a member of Albion's first XI, and they played together on many occasions.

Career statistics

Source:

Honours

West Bromwich Albion *

winner:

; runner-up:

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Horton, Ezra 1861 births 1939 deaths Sportspeople from West Bromwich English footballers Association football wing halves West Bromwich Albion F.C. players Port Vale F.C. players Aston Villa F.C. players English Football League players English football referees English male field hockey players FA Cup Final players