Frederick Mearns (31 March 1879 – 22 January 1931) 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 for

Hartlepool United Hartlepool United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Hartlepool, County Durham, England. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. They were founded in 1908 as Hartle ...

and

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. As the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. In Barnsley, the population was 96,888 while the wider Borough has ...

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 ...

. During his time with

, he was an FA Cup finalist in

1910 Events January * January 13 – The first public radio broadcast takes place; live performances of the operas '' Cavalleria rusticana'' and ''Pagliacci'' are sent out over the airwaves, from the Metropolitan Opera House in New York C ...

. Mearns later worked as a trainer for Durham City.

Club career

Tottenham signed Mearns from

Kettering Town Kettering Town Football Club is a football club based in Burton Latimer, Northamptonshire, England. They are currently members of and play at Latimer Park in Burton Latimer. Kettering were the first club to wear sponsorship on their shirts in ...

in March 1903 to be understudy to Charlie Williams. He made his debut on 5 October 1903 for Spurs in a Western League game to Queens Park Rangers where he kept a clean sheet in a 3–0 win. By the end of the season Mearns helped Tottenham to win the Western League. He played a total of five Southern League games, four Western League games and four London League games and then moved onto

Bradford City Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system and are currently managed by Mark Hughes. Th ...

. He played for Bradford City between June 1904 and May 1906. He made 21 league and 2 FA Cup appearances for the club. Mearns joined Hartlepool United in 1908 for their inaugural season in the

North Eastern League The North Eastern League was an association football league for teams in the North East of England. The league was founded in 1906 and was initially successful, with teams defecting from the rival Northern Football Alliance to play. Although som ...

where they came fourth. In the summer of 1909 he joined Barnsley. He played in the Barnsley side who reached the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

Honours

Tottenham Hotspur * Western Football League: 1903–04 Barnsley *

runner-up: 1910

References

Bibliography

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mearns, Frederick 1879 births 1931 deaths Footballers from Sunderland Men's association football goalkeepers English men's footballers Barnsley F.C. players Hartlepool United F.C. players Grays Athletic F.C. players Sunderland A.F.C. players Kettering Town F.C. players Tottenham Hotspur F.C. players Bradford City A.F.C. players Southern United F.C. (England) players Barrow A.F.C. players Bury F.C. players Stockton F.C. players Leicester City F.C. players Newcastle United F.C. players English Football League players Sunderland West End F.C. players