Henry Augustus Anstiss (22 August 1899 – 9 March 1964) was a much travelled 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 ...

who played as an

inside-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 ...

for Hammersmith Athletic, Brentford,

Millwall Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Limehouse, north of Greenwich and Deptford, eas ...

Watford Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, and ...

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, at the foothills of the South Pennines in the dale on the River Roch, northwest of Oldham and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough ...

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot ...

Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in . Vale are the only English Football League club not to be named after a place; their name being a reference to the valley o ...

, Swansea Town,

Crewe Alexandra Crewe Alexandra Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Crewe, Cheshire, that competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Railwaymen' because of ...

, Gillingham, Tunbridge Wells Rangers and

Cray Wanderers Cray Wanderers Football Club is an English semi-professional football club based in Sidcup, London. Based on later reports, the club has a claim to have been established some time in 1860 in the twin villages of St Mary Cray and St Paul's Cr ...

in the 1920s and 1930s. His most significant spell was with Port Vale, with whom he won the

Third Division North The Third Division North of the Football League was a tier in the English football league system from 1921 to 1958. It ran in parallel with the Third Division South with clubs elected to the League or relegated from a higher division allocated to ...

title in 1929–30.

Career

Anstiss played for Hammersmith Athletic, before joining Brentford,

and

, before joining

in February 1927, along with 'a substantial financial consideration' in exchange for Alfred Strange. Strange went on to become an

England international The England national football team has represented England in international football since the first international match in 1872. It is controlled by The Football Association (FA), the governing body for football in England, which is affilia ...

, but Anstiss did not head in the same direction. He had a great start to his Vale career though, scoring on his debut at

The Old Recreation Ground The Old Recreation Ground was a football stadium located in Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent, England, and home to Port Vale F.C. from 1913 to 1950. It was the sixth ground the club used. Structure and facilities The stadium was in rather bad condit ...

in a 6–2 win over

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nottingham, England. The team participate in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Founded on the 25 November 1862, it is the ...

on 26 February. He went on to score a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...

in a 7–1 home win over Fulham on 2 April, and claimed 11 goals in 15

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

games in the 1926–27 campaign. This was the end of his purple patch, as he scored five goals in 32 games in the 1927–28 season. Injury brought him down in November 1928, and limited him to three goals in 17 matches in the 1928–29

relegation In sports leagues, promotion and relegation is a process where teams are transferred between multiple divisions based on their performance for the completed season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are often called open leagues. ...

season. He scored 15 goals in 37 appearances in the 1929–30 season, as the "Valiants" were crowned champions of the

. He fell from favour in October 1930 and was limited to six goals in 17 games in the

1930–31 Year 193 ( CXCIII) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Sosius and Ericius (or, less frequently, year 946 ''Ab urbe condit ...

season. He was transferred to Swansea Town in May 1931. Later he played for

, Gillingham, Tunbridge Wells Rangers and

Personal life

Anstiss served as a Boy 1st Class in the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...

during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. Aged just 16, he saw action at the Battle of Jutland in 1916 and served on '' HMS Royal Oak''. He joined the crew of '' HMS Powerful'' the following year.

Career statistics

Honours

;Port Vale *

Football League Third Division North The Third Division North of the Football League was a tier in the English football league system from 1921 to 1958. It ran in parallel with the Third Division South with clubs elected to the League or relegated from a higher division allocated t ...

: 1929–30

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Anstiss, Harry Footballers from Hampstead English men's footballers Men's association football forwards Royal Navy personnel of World War I Brentford F.C. players Millwall F.C. players Watford F.C. players Rochdale A.F.C. players Sheffield Wednesday F.C. players Port Vale F.C. players Swansea City A.F.C. players Crewe Alexandra F.C. players Gillingham F.C. players Tunbridge Wells F.C. players Cray Wanderers F.C. players English Football League players 1899 births 1964 deaths