Fred Briggs (1 May 1908 – 25 January 1998) 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 as a

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 ...

for

Rotherham United Rotherham United Football Club, nicknamed The Millers, is a professional football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The club's colours were initially yellow and black, but changed to red and white around 1 ...

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...

and

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

Rotherham United

He was born in

Wombwell Wombwell () is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley in South Yorkshire, England. The town in the 2011 census was split between a ward called Wombwell, as well as small parts that fell under two other wards called Darfield (specifically ...

and played as a youth for Mexborough Town and

before joining

Third Division North The Third Division North of the Football League was a tier in the English football league system from 1921 to 1958. It ran in parallel with the Third Division South with clubs elected to the League or relegated from a higher division allocated to ...

team

in May 1932. Essentially a right winger, Briggs came into the side at the start of the 1932–33 season and played in nine of the opening ten games. His subsequent appearances were spread out, with six successive games being his best spell. He had only netted a couple of goals before he rounded off the season with a brace in the last game of the season, a 6–1 home victory over

Halifax Town FC Halifax Town is a professional association football club based in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England. They currently compete in and play at the Shay. They replaced Halifax Town A.F.C., which went into administration in the 2007–08 season. ...

. Following the arrival of

George Raynor George Sidney Raynor (13 January 1907 – 24 November 1985) was an English professional footballer and one of the most successful international football managers ever. One of his greatest achievements was taking the Sweden national football t ...

the next season, Briggs switched to

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 ...

missing just five league games; he stepped up his scoring rate, finding the net in four consecutive league games in March with seven goals in eight games. After the first six games of the 1934–35 season he lost his place to Roland Bastow and played just three more games, his last being a 2–2 home draw against

Crewe Alexandra Crewe Alexandra Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Crewe, Cheshire, that competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Railwaymen' because of ...

on 15 December 1934. In his three years with the Millers, Briggs made a total of 80 appearances, scoring 18 goals.

Reading

He moved south to join

in June 1935, where he found first team opportunities scarce, making only 27 league appearances in three seasons.

Southampton

In May 1938, he was signed on a free transfer by

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 ...

. Manager Tom Parker saw him as the ideal player to pair with Harry Osman up front. Briggs made his first start on 24 September 1938 in a defeat at

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 ...

, but soon settled into the side, forming a "useful partnership" with

centre-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 ...

Reg Tomlinson. In a run of twelve matches from mid-October to Christmas, he scored ten goals including a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...

at home to Swansea Town on 26 November. By the end of the season he was the Saints' top scorer with 14 goals.

Later career

The outbreak of war then brought Briggs's playing career to a premature end. Although he played for the "Saints" in the first wartime season, he moved on to guest for several clubs, including

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the count ...

Accrington Stanley Accrington Stanley Football Club is a professional association football club based in Accrington, Lancashire, England. The club competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They have spent their complete history ...

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandsworth ...

and

Watford Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, a ...

References

External links

Career details on www.11v11.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Briggs, Fred 1908 births 1998 deaths Sportspeople from Wombwell Footballers from South Yorkshire English men's footballers Mexborough Town F.C. players Rotherham United F.C. players Reading F.C. players Southampton F.C. players Fulham F.C. wartime guest players Watford F.C. wartime guest players Wrexham F.C. wartime guest players Accrington Stanley F.C. (1891) wartime guest players Men's association football forwards