Harry Betmead (11 April 1912 – 26 August 1984) 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

Grimsby Town Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that in the 2022–23 season will compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system, following the victory in ...

, as well as the English national side. He also played cricket for

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-west, Leicestershire ...

. He spent his entire 17-year career with Grimsby, from 1930 to 1947, and is one of only three players to win an England cap whilst at the club (the other two being teammates

Jackie Bestall John Gilbert Bestall, (24 June 1900 – 11 April 1985) was an English international association football, footballer, he also played top-division football and captained Grimsby Town F.C., Grimsby Town, and later managed Doncaster Rovers F.C., D ...

and

George Tweedy George Jacob Tweedy (8 January 1913 – 23 April 1987) was an English footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He was a one club player for Grimsby Town and earned one cap for England. He played 347 league games in a World War II interrupted care ...

). He helped the club to win the

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 ...

title in 1933–34 and to reach two

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 ...

semi-finals. After retiring from the game he went into business in

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...

Club career

Born in

Grimsby Grimsby or Great Grimsby is a port town and the administrative centre of North East Lincolnshire, Lincolnshire, England. Grimsby adjoins the town of Cleethorpes directly to the south-east forming a conurbation. Grimsby is north-east of Linco ...

, Betmead was playing for local side Hay Cross when he was signed for

by Wilf Gillow in October 1930 aged 18 years old. He made his debut almost a year later on 15 September 1931 against

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 ...

. He quickly established himself as one of the first names on the "Mariners" team sheet, and remained at the club for the whole of his career, despite considerable interest from bigger cubs. Grimsby suffered relegation out of the First Division in 1931–32, before finishing 13th in the

in 1932–33. They won promotion as the division's champions in 1933–34. Town finished fifth in 1934–35. They dropped to 17th place in 1935–36, though reached the semi-finals of the

, where they were beaten 1–0 by

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

. The

Blundell Park Blundell Park is a football ground in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England and home to Grimsby Town Football Club. The stadium was built in 1899, but only one of the original stands remains. The current capacity of the ground is 9, ...

outfit then posted 12th, 20th, and 10th-place finishes in 1936–37, 1937–38, and 1938–39. They also reached the semi-finals of the FA Cup again in 1939, this time losing out 5–0 to

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...

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 ...

. During the war he became a physical training instructor in the army, also guesting for Heart of Midlothian,

Aldershot Aldershot () is a town in Hampshire, England. It lies on heathland in the extreme northeast corner of the county, southwest of London. The area is administered by Rushmoor Borough Council. The town has a population of 37,131, while the Alders ...

Chesterfield Chesterfield may refer to: Places Canada * Rural Municipality of Chesterfield No. 261, Saskatchewan * Chesterfield Inlet, Nunavut United Kingdom * Chesterfield, Derbyshire, a market town in England ** Chesterfield (UK Parliament constitue ...

and

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 ...

. He also managed to play 40 games and score five goals for Grimsby in the war years. After normal football resumed, Betmead helped the club to post a 16th-place finish in the top-flight in 1946–47. He retired in December 1947. He had scored ten goals in 296 league appearances for the club.

International career

Called up to the England squad, he played in the 8–0 win over

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

on 20 May 1937. Betmead toured South Africa with an English FA side in 1939 and was captain in two of the unofficial internationals against the full

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

team.

Style of play

Betmead played at

centre-half In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

; he was a strong tackler and had excellent aerial ability.

Career statistics

Source:

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Betmead, Harry 1912 births 1984 deaths Footballers from Grimsby English footballers Association football defenders England international footballers Grimsby Town F.C. players Heart of Midlothian F.C. wartime guest players Aldershot F.C. wartime guest players Chesterfield F.C. wartime guest players Port Vale F.C. wartime guest players English Football League players English cricketers Lincolnshire cricketers British Army personnel of World War II