Alfred Capper (8 May 1892 – 31 October 1955) 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

outside 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 ...

. Born in Knutsford,

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...

, he played for

Northwich Victoria {{Infobox UK place , static_image_name = Northwich - Town Bridge.jpg , static_image_caption = Town Bridge, the River Weaver and the spire of Holy Trinity Church , official_name = Northwich , country ...

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 ...

Witton Albion Witton may refer to one of several places in England: *Witton, historic name of an area of Northwich, Cheshire **Witton Albion F.C. *Witton Gilbert, County Durham *Witton-le-Wear, County Durham *Witton, an area of Blackburn, Lancashire * Witton, B ...

, Sheffield Wednesday and

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings whi ...

Career

Born in Winnington, a village just outside

Northwich {{Infobox UK place , static_image_name = Northwich - Town Bridge.jpg , static_image_caption = Town Bridge, the River Weaver and the spire of Holy Trinity Church , official_name = Northwich , country ...

, the son of Joseph Capper. He started work as an apprentice fitter at an alkali works. Capper began his football career with various clubs in the village, before joining

Manchester League The Manchester Football League is a football league in England, affiliated with Manchester FA, covering a 30-mile radius from Manchester Town Hall. It was formed in 1893, although play ceased between 1912 and 1920. Currently it consists of fiv ...

side

.Dykes (1994), p. 70. In January 1911, he joined

on an amateur contract, just three months before the team won their second First Division title. Capper's debut came on 23 March 1912, when a spate of injuries – including one to regular outside left

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 ...

– forced Manchester United to select three debutants for a 1–1 draw with Liverpool at

Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,310 it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after Wemb ...

. Capper was later criticised for holding onto the ball too much and failing to use his pace to beat opposing defenders, and he never played for Manchester United again. In May 1913, he was transfer listed and moved to Lancashire Combination side

. During the 1913–14 season, he was part of the Witton Albion side that won the Lancashire Combination Second Division, leading to his return to the Football League with First Division Sheffield Wednesday in May 1914. Despite the outbreak of the First World War in July 1914, the entire 1914–15 season was completed before football was suspended until 1919; Capper made 24 league appearances during the season, as well as one in the FA Cup, scoring four league goals. One of these goals came in a 7–0 win over

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club () is a professional football club based in Horwich, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in . The club played at Burnden Park for 102 years from 1895 after moving from their original home at Pike's ...

on 1 March 1915, in which all five forwards and two half-backs got on the scoresheet. He spent two more seasons with Sheffield Wednesday after the war, making 37 more appearances, before moving to

in August 1921, who had finished 21st out of 22 teams in the inaugural season of the Third Division South. On 11 February 1922, Capper became the first Brentford player to be sent off, receiving his marching orders from referee and future Brentford manager Harry Curtis. In three seasons with Brentford, he made over 100 appearances in all competitions, scoring six goals.

Personal life

Capper served as a second corporal with the Inland Water Transport section of the

Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is a corps of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces and is heade ...

during the First World War.

References

;General * * ;Specific

External links

Profile
at StretfordEnd.co.uk

at The Wednesday Archive
Profile
at Brentford Football Club History {{DEFAULTSORT:Capper, Freddy 1892 births 1955 deaths Footballers from Northwich People from Knutsford English men's footballers Men's association football forwards Northwich Victoria F.C. players Manchester United F.C. players Witton Albion F.C. players Sheffield Wednesday F.C. players Brentford F.C. players British Army personnel of World War I Royal Engineers soldiers