Isaac Brookes (7 January 1861 – 1935) 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 ...

who played in

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in Association football around the wor ...

for

Northwich Victoria {{Infobox UK place , static_image_name = Northwich - Town Bridge.jpg , static_image_caption = Town Bridge, the River Weaver and the spire of Holy Trinity Church , official_name = Northwich , country ...

and

Stoke Stoke is a common place name in the United Kingdom. Stoke may refer to: Places United Kingdom The largest city called Stoke is Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire. See below. Berkshire * Stoke Row, Berkshire Bristol * Stoke Bishop * Stok ...

Career

Brookes was born in

Bilston Bilston is a market town, ward, and civil parish located in Wolverhampton, West Midlands, England. It is close to the borders of Sandwell and Walsall. The nearest towns are Darlaston, Wednesbury, and Willenhall. Historically in Staffordshi ...

and was a

wicket-keeper The wicket-keeper in the sport of cricket is the player on the fielding side who stands behind the wicket or stumps being watchful of the batsman and ready to take a catch, stump the batsman out and run out a batsman when occasion arises. ...

for the

Staffordshire County Cricket Club Staffordshire County Cricket Club is one of twenty national county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Staffordshire. The team is currently a member of the National Counties C ...

. In 1891

were suffering from 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 ...

crisis with both

Bill Rowley William Spencer Rowley (11 September 1865 – 16 March 1934) was an English footballer who played as goalkeeper for Stoke in the 1880s and 1890s, also making two appearances for England. He later became Stoke's manager between 1895 and 1897. H ...

and Wilf Merritt out with injuries and Brookes was signed by the club. He did well as Stoke remained unbeaten and claimed the

Football Alliance The Football Alliance was an association football league in England which ran for three seasons, from 1889–90 to 1891–92. History In 1888, the same year the Football League was founded, The Combination was established by clubs who had been ...

title and with it an instant return to

. He remained at Stoke but lost his place once Rowley had recovered and Brookes joined

Career statistics

Honours

;with Stoke *

champions: 1890–91

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brookes, Ike English men's footballers Northwich Victoria F.C. players Stoke City F.C. players 1861 births 1935 deaths English Football League players Football Alliance players Men's association football goalkeepers Sportspeople from Bilston