Joseph Beverley (12 November 1856 – 21 May 1897) was an

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 ...

-winning 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

Blackburn Olympic Blackburn () is an industrial town and the administrative centre of the Blackburn with Darwen borough in Lancashire, England. The town is north of the West Pennine Moors on the southern edge of the Ribble Valley, east of Preston and north-n ...

and Blackburn Rovers, as well as the England national side.

Career

Club

Beverley started out with James Street and stayed with them when they merged with Black Star to form Blackburn Olympic. He moved to Blackburn Rovers in October 1882, winning the

1884 Events January–March * January 4 – The Fabian Society is founded in London. * January 5 – Gilbert and Sullivan's ''Princess Ida'' premières at the Savoy Theatre, London. * January 18 – Dr. William Price atte ...

. He then returned to Olympic before once again transferring to play for Rovers in 1887, meaning he was part of the squad that entered the first year of the

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 ...

in 1888-89, after which he drew a close to his footballing career.

1888-1889

Joe Beverley made his League debut on 15 September 1888, as a full-back, at

Leamington Road Leamington Road was a football ground in Blackburn in England. It was the home ground of Blackburn Rovers between 1881 and 1890. History Blackburn Rovers moved to Leamington Road from their Alexandra Meadows ground in 1881.Paul Smith & Shirley S ...

, then home of Blackburn Rovers, against

Accrington Accrington is a town in the Hyndburn borough of Lancashire, England. It lies about east of Blackburn, west of Burnley, east of Preston, north of Manchester and is situated on the culverted River Hyndburn. Commonly abbreviated by locals to ...

. The match ended in a 5–5 draw. When Joe Beverley played as a full – back on 20 October 1888 against

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 ...

, he was 31 years 343 days old; that made him, on that seventh weekend of League football, Blackburn Rovers oldest player. Joe Beverley was supplanted by Thomas Midgley as the League's oldest player on 20 October 1888. Beverley had been the League' oldest player from 15 September 1888 (replacing Johnny Graham of

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional football club in Preston, Lancashire, England, who currently play in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league syste ...

) until 20 October 1888. Beverley played eight, of the 22 League matches played by Blackburn Rovers in season 1888–89. As a full-back he played in a defence that achieved one clean sheet.

International

Beverley was selected to represent England at the inaugural

British Home Championship The British Home Championship * sco, Hame Internaitional Kemp * gd, Farpais lìg eadar-nàiseanta * cy, Pencampwriaeth y Pedair Gwlad, name=lang (historically known as the British International Championship or simply the International Champio ...

where he played in all three games, resulting in two wins and one loss, meaning England lost the round robin tournament to

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. His international career spanned a total of 23 days.

Personal life

Beverley married Mary Ann Gabbott in 1877 and they had five children, the youngest born just weeks before Beverley was killed in an industrial accident at Albion Mill. He was 40 years old.

References

External links

Player profile at EnglandStats.com
1856 births 1897 deaths English men's footballers England men's international footballers Blackburn Olympic F.C. players Blackburn Rovers F.C. players Men's association football defenders Footballers from Blackburn {{England-footy-defender-1850s-stub