Frederick Richard Buck (2 November 1879 – 5 June 1952), better known as Fred Buck, 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 as an

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 ...

and

centre half 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 ...

. He played in

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

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 ...

and

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

, and the Southern League for

Plymouth Argyle Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. As of the 2021–22 season, the team are competing in League One, the third tier of English football. They have played at Home Park, ...

and Swansea Town.

Life and career

Buck was born in

Audley, Staffordshire Audley is a large village in Staffordshire, England. It is the centre of Audley Rural parish, approximately four miles (6 km) north west of Newcastle-under-Lyme and 3 miles (5 km) from Alsager near the Staffordshire-Cheshire border. Audley is l ...

.Birth Certificate He joined Stafford Wesleyans in August 1895, moving on to Stafford Rangers in July 1897. In November 1900 he signed for

before a move to

in May 1903. Buck was signed by

in January 1904, then re-joined West Bromwich Albion in April 1906. Buck was Albion's top league goalscorer in the 1907–08 season, scoring 18 times, and again in 1909–10 when he found the net on 16 occasions. In May 1914 he moved to Swansea Town, where he finished his career, scoring one goal in eight league appearances. He retired in May 1917. Buck's parents were Richard Samuel Buck (1839–1909) and Harriet Johnson (1840–1910). He appeared in the 1881 census in

Alsagers Bank Alsagers Bank is a village in the Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme in Staffordshire. Population details at the 2011 census can be found under Audley Rural Audley Rural is a parish of Staffordshire, England, located four miles to the no ...

, and in the 1891, 1901 and 1911 censuses in

Stafford Stafford () is a market town and the county town of Staffordshire, in the West Midlands region of England. It lies about north of Wolverhampton, south of Stoke-on-Trent and northwest of Birmingham. The town had a population of 70,145 in t ...

. In the 1901 census he was an apprentice fitter, and in the 1911 census he was described as an engineer fitter. During his time with Plymouth Argyle, he was described as being 5 foot inches tall and barely 11 stone. In July 1913, he resided in Stafford and he married Stella Margaret Williams on 15 July 1913. In 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 ...

, from 1915 to 1918, he served in the Army Service Corps where he gained the

British War Medal The British War Medal is a campaign medal of the United Kingdom which was awarded to officers and men of British and Imperial forces for service in the First World War. Two versions of the medal were produced. About 6.5 million were struck in si ...

. In 1918, he was resident in Cramer Street, Stafford. From 1921 to 1931 he was a publican in

Rugby, Warwickshire Rugby is a market town in eastern Warwickshire, England, close to the River Avon. In the 2021 census its population was 78,125, making it the second-largest town in Warwickshire. It is the main settlement within the larger Borough of Rugby whi ...

at the Victoria Inn, 1 Lower Hillmorton Road. Between 1945 and 1952 he was a clerk in the Grinding Wheel Works in Stafford. He died in

on 5 June 1952,Death Certificate and is buried in the Eccleshall Road Cemetery.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Buck, Fred 1879 births 1952 deaths People from Audley, Staffordshire English footballers Stafford Rangers F.C. players West Bromwich Albion F.C. players Liverpool F.C. players Plymouth Argyle F.C. players Swansea City A.F.C. players English Football League players Southern Football League players Western Football League players English Football League representative players Association football forwards Royal Army Service Corps soldiers British Army personnel of World War I Publicans FA Cup Final players