Harry Sellars (9 April 1902 – 30 December 1978) 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 ...

and football

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

, who played in the

English 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 Engl ...

for

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, which competes in the . Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, it changed its name to Stoke in 1878 and then to Stoke City in 1925 after Stoke ...

. He made 395 appearances for Stoke in all competitions, and helped the club to win 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 1926–27 and 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 1932–33. He went on to briefly manage League of Ireland side

Dundalk Dundalk ( ; ga, Dún Dealgan ), meaning "the fort of Dealgan", is the county town (the administrative centre) of County Louth, Ireland. The town is on the Castletown River, which flows into Dundalk Bay on the east coast of Ireland. It is h ...

in 1947. His son John also played for Stoke in the 1950s. Together, father and son played 808 league and cup games for the club.

Playing career

Sellars was born in Beamish, Durham and joined his local club

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. The River Skerne flows through the town; it is a tributary of the River Tees. The Tees itself flows south of the town. In the 19th century, Darlington underwen ...

as an amateur in 1919. The "Quakers" found him a job cleaning train carriage windows an improvement on his previous employment as a miner. Sellars turned down a trial at

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 ...

in favour of turning professional with ambitious

Northern League Northern League may refer to: Sport Baseball * Northern League (baseball, 1902–71), a name used by several minor leagues that operated in the upper midwestern U.S. and Manitoba from 1902 to 1971 * Northern League (baseball, 1993–2010), an indep ...

club Leadgate Park who offered him £2 a week. He was recommended to several

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 ...

clubs by various scouts and

Tom Mather Tom or TOM may refer to: * Tom (given name), a diminutive of Thomas or Tomás or an independent Aramaic given name (and a list of people with the name) Characters * Tom Anderson, a character in ''Beavis and Butt-Head'' * Tom Beck, a character ...

signed him on 15 December 1923. He began his Stoke career at inside-left and scored on his debut against

Clapton Orient Leyton Orient Football Club is a professional football club based in Leyton, East London, England, who compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. They are the second oldest football club in London to play at a profess ...

on 26 January 1924. He was in and out of the side in the next three seasons before Sellars converted to half-back in 1925–26 as Stoke were relegated to the

. A strong half-back line with Sellars,

Cecil Eastwood Cecil Milner Eastwood (7 May 1894 – 1968) was an English footballer who played in the Football League for Plymouth Argyle, Preston North End and Stoke City. Career Eastwood was born in Castleford and began his career with Plymouth Argyle in ...

and Tom Williamson helped Stoke win the title and return to the

. He became a steady and consistent performer for Stoke. He helped them win promotion to the First Division in 1932–33. He remained in the side until he injured his knee in September 1935, which allowed

Frank Soo Frank Soo (8 March 1914 – 25 January 1991) was an English professional football player and manager of mixed Chinese and English parentage. He was the first player of Chinese origin to play in the English Football League, and the first player ...

to take his place. In total, Sellars made 395 appearances, scoring 19 goals, for Stoke in a 13-year career at the Victoria Ground. He then helped

Congleton Town Congleton Town Football Club is an association football club based in Congleton, Cheshire, England. They currently play in the and are full members of the Cheshire County Football Association. The club have played in a number of regional league ...

to win the Cheshire Senior Cup. He had a short spell at

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 ...

(without playing a first-team game). During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, he worked at the PMT bus in depot in

Hanley Hanley is one of the six towns that, along with Burslem, Longton, Fenton, Tunstall and Stoke-upon-Trent, amalgamated to form the City of Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire, England. Hanley is the ''de facto'' city centre, having long been the ...

, and once the war was over, he returned to Stoke to become

Bob McGrory Robert Gerald McGrory (17 October 1891 – 24 May 1954) was a Scottish footballer who played in the Football League for Burnley and Stoke City with whom he later had a long spell as manager. McGrory played football with Dumbarton before joining ...

's assistant manager and first-team

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

. In his role he helped to train his son John.

Managerial career

Sellars was recruited to manage League of Ireland side

at the start of the 1947–48, before he agreed to a mutual termination of his

contract A contract is a legally enforceable agreement between two or more parties that creates, defines, and governs mutual rights and obligations between them. A contract typically involves the transfer of goods, services, money, or a promise to tran ...

in October 1947.

Career statistics

Source:

Honours

Stoke City *

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 In sports leagues, promotion and ...

: 1926–27 *

Football League Second Division The Football League Second Division was the second level division in the English football league system between 1892 and 1992. Following the foundation of the FA Premier League, the Football League divisions were renumbered and the third ti ...

: 1932–33

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sellars, Harry 1902 births 1978 deaths Footballers from County Durham English men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Darlington F.C. players Leadgate Park F.C. players Stoke City F.C. players Congleton Town F.C. players Port Vale F.C. players Northern Football League players English Football League players Dundalk F.C. managers League of Ireland managers English expatriate football managers Expatriate association football managers in the Republic of Ireland Association football coaches Stoke City F.C. non-playing staff