Frederick Charles Erentz (10 June 1870 – 6 April 1938) was a Scottish

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 half-back and full-back for Dundee Our Boys and

Newton Heath Newton Heath is an area of Manchester, England, north-east of Manchester city centre and with a population of 9,883. Historically part of Lancashire, Newton was formerly a farming area, but adopted the factory system following the Industrial Re ...

in the 1880s, 1890s and early 1900s.

Early life

Born in Broughty Ferry, near

Dundee Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...

, to a Danish father, Erentz began his football career with Dundee Our Boys.Shury et al.; p. 66 Originally a half-back, Erentz was signed by

in June 1892 in preparation for their first season 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 ...

. He made his Newton Heath debut on 3 September 1892, playing at

left half A midfielder is an 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 central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

in a 4–3 defeat by Blackburn Rovers. Erentz was almost an ever-present during the 1892–93 season, missing only an away match against Derby County on 11 February 1893.Shury et al.; p. 54

Career

The following season, Erentz was deployed in several different positions, including right half and both right forward positions, from where he scored his first goal for the club, but he made most of his appearances in 1893–94 at left-back.Shury et al.; p. 55 Erentz was effectively ever-present at left-back over his next eight seasons at the club, and even rejected a sizeable contract offer from

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...

, where his brother Harry played at right-back.Barnes et al.; p. 83 He was the first player to amass 100 appearances for Newton Heath, a feat he achieved on 14 December 1895 in a league match against Notts County. Additionally, he became club's first player to achieve 200 and 300 games. Erentz retired from football at the end of the 1901–02 season as a result of a knee injury. His final appearance for the club was also the last match the club played as Newton Heath before becoming

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

, a 2–1 win over

Manchester City Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...

in the final of the

Manchester Senior Cup The Manchester FA Senior Cup (originally known as the Manchester and District Challenge Cup, later the Manchester Cup) is an annual football tournament held between the clubs of the Manchester Football Association which was first played in 1885; ...

on 26 April 1902. With 310 matches he was club's record appearance maker until 21 November 1914, when

George Wall George Wall (20 February 1885 – June 1962) was an English association football, footballer. Career Born in The Boldons, Boldon Colliery, County Durham, Wall started his career with Boldon Royal Rovers and played for Whitburn and Jarrow F.C ...

played 311th of his 319 games for Manchester United.

Career statistics

References

General * * Specific

External links

Profile
at StretfordEnd.co.uk

at MUFCInfo.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Erentz, Fred 1870 births 1938 deaths Footballers from Dundee Scottish people of Danish descent Scottish men's footballers Men's association football fullbacks Dundee F.C. players Manchester United F.C. players English Football League players People from Broughty Ferry