Frederick Howard Whalley (8 October 1898 – 25 April 1976) 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 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 Leeds United, Grimsby Town,

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 ...

and

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 ...

as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

Personal life

Whalley enlisted as a reservist in the Loyal North Lancashire Regiment of 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 ...

in November 1913, whilst working as a cotton spinner. After Britain's declaration of war on Germany in August 1914, he was mobilised and arrived on the

Western Front Western Front or West Front may refer to: Military frontiers *Western Front (World War I), a military frontier to the west of Germany *Western Front (World War II), a military frontier to the west of Germany *Western Front (Russian Empire), a majo ...

one month later. Whalley saw action through the winter operations of 1914–1915, but was

court-martial A court-martial or court martial (plural ''courts-martial'' or ''courts martial'', as "martial" is a postpositive adjective) is a military court or a trial conducted in such a court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of memb ...

ed in January 1915 for falling asleep at his post. He was sentenced to one year's hard labour and owing to a case of

trench foot Trench foot is a type of foot damage due to moisture. Initial symptoms often include tingling or itching which can progress to numbness. The feet may become red or bluish in color. As the condition worsens the feet can start to swell and smel ...

, he was moved from

Rouen Rouen (, ; or ) is a city on the River Seine in northern France. It is the prefecture of the Regions of France, region of Normandy (administrative region), Normandy and the Departments of France, department of Seine-Maritime. Formerly one of ...

to Britain. In November 1915, he returned to his battalion, but was reprimanded after going AWOL for three days. Whalley returned to the front in January 1916 and was again evacuated after another case of trench foot, before being transferred to the King's Regiment (Liverpool) and then to the Labour Corps in March 1917. 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 December 1918, one month after the

Armistice An armistice is a formal agreement of warring parties to stop fighting. It is not necessarily the end of a war, as it may constitute only a cessation of hostilities while an attempt is made to negotiate a lasting peace. It is derived from the La ...

. After his retirement from football in the mid-1920s, Whalley became a policeman in

Preston Preston is a place name, surname and given name that may refer to: Places England *Preston, Lancashire, an urban settlement **The City of Preston, Lancashire, a borough and non-metropolitan district which contains the settlement **County Boro ...

and later lived in Eccles.

Career statistics

References

1898 births English footballers English Football League players British Army personnel of World War I Loyal Regiment soldiers King's Regiment (Liverpool) soldiers Footballers from Bolton Association football goalkeepers Royal Pioneer Corps soldiers Preston North End F.C. players Grimsby Town F.C. players Leeds United F.C. players Fulham F.C. players 1976 deaths British police officers British Army personnel who were court-martialled English prisoners and detainees Prisoners and detainees of the British military Child soldiers in World War I Military personnel from Lancashire {{England-footy-goalkeeper-stub