Frederick William Banks (9 December 1888 – 16 January 1957) was an English professional footballer who made 72 appearances in the Football League playing for Birmingham and Nottingham Forest. He played as an outside forward.

Life and career

Frederick William Banks was born on 9 December 1888 in

Aston Aston is an area of inner Birmingham, England. Located immediately to the north-east of Central Birmingham, Aston constitutes a ward within the metropolitan authority. It is approximately 1.5 miles from Birmingham City Centre. History Aston wa ...

, which is now part of Birmingham. He played local football for teams including Park Road and Myrtle Villa before joining Second Division club Birmingham in 1909. He made his debut on 13 November 1909, deputising for Fred Chapple in a home game against Lincoln City which Birmingham won 1–0. This was the only first-team game he played for Birmingham. Banks played

non-league football Non-League football describes football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is specifically used to de ...

for Stourbridge and

Wellington Town Telford United Football Club was an English football club based in Telford, Shropshire. The club existed under various names for a total of 132 years from its formation in 1872. The club was a founder member of the Alliance Premier League (la ...

and then returned to 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 ...

with Nottingham Forest. According to the ''

Nottingham Evening News Nottingham ( , locally ) is a city and unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east of Sheffield and north-east of Birmingham. Nottingham has links to the legend of Ro ...

'' report of his debut, In two spells with the club either side of a season with

Stalybridge Celtic Stalybridge Celtic Football Club is an English football club based in Stalybridge, Greater Manchester. They are currently members of the and play at Bower Fold. The team traditionally plays in a blue and white strip. In 1921 Stalybridge Celtic ...

and interrupted by the First World War, Banks played 73 games in all competitions, before moving back to non-league with Worksop Town in 1920. He was still a Worksop player in March 1922, when he married; the 1939 Register lists him as a widower. After his playing career ended, Banks became deputy to Tom Ratcliffe as Notts County's trainer, and took over after Ratcliffe resigned in March 1930. He was responsible for the fitness of the squad that won the 1930–31 Third Division South title and with it promotion to the Second Division. He held the post until May 1934, when the newly arrived manager, Charlie Jones, had him demoted to reserve trainer because he wanted to bring in his own man, Bill Seddon. Ahead of the 1936–37 season, Banks returned to Nottingham Forest as assistant trainer, and he remained with that club after the war as a member of the ground staff until taking retirement in March 1956. Banks died in Nottingham on 16 January 1957.

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Banks, Frederick 1888 births 1957 deaths Footballers from Birmingham, West Midlands English men's footballers Men's association football forwards Birmingham City F.C. players Stourbridge F.C. players Telford United F.C. players Nottingham Forest F.C. players People from Aston Stalybridge Celtic F.C. players Worksop Town F.C. players English Football League players Midland Football League players Notts County F.C. non-playing staff Nottingham Forest F.C. non-playing staff