Joseph Richard Cottle (4 June 1886 – 3 February 1958) was 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 affiliat ...

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 as a

left back 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 ...

prior to 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 ...

. He played over 200

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 ...

games for

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England, which compete in the , the second tier of English football. They have played their home games at Ashton Gate since moving from St John's Lane in 1904. The ...

before a broken leg halted his City career. He later joined Bristol Rovers.

Career

Born in Bedminster in 1886, Cottle played locally for Dolphins in Bristol before

Harry Thickett Henry Thickitt (or Thickett) (1872 – 15 November 1920) was a professional association football, footballer and Manager (association football), Manager. Born in Hexthorpe, Doncaster he played as a Defender (association football), defender prima ...

signed him in June 1905 to play professionally for

. Cottle made his debut at left back on 30 September 1905 in a 2–1 win at Bradford City. This was the 5th match of a run of 14 successive wins achieved by Bristol City between September and December 1905. Cottle had replaced

Billy Tuft Willam Tuft (1874 – after 1906) was an English professional association football player in the years prior to the First World War. He made 170 appearances in the Football League. Career Born in Wolverhampton, he began his career with junior-l ...

in the left back position and retained his place for the rest of the season making 33 appearances as Bristol City won the Second Division championship. Cottle and

Archie Annan Walter Archibald Annan (23 March 1877 – 23 January 1949) was a Scottish professional footballer in the years before World War I. A full back, he made over 170 appearances in the English Football League. He featured prominently in Bristol Cit ...

formed a formidable full back partnership for Bristol City under manager Harry Thickett during the first decade of the 20th century. The following season 1906-07 Cottle missed only one league match making 37 appearances as the "Robins" finished runners up in the First Division. Cottle made 36 appearances in both 1907-08 and 1908-09 missing only 2 league matches in each First Division season. In 1908-09 Cottle also played in all 10 FA Cup ties including the

1909 FA Cup Final The 1909 FA Cup Final was the final match of the 1908–09 FA Cup, the 38th season of England's premier club football cup competition. The match was played on 24 April 1909 at Crystal Palace, and was contested by Manchester United and Bristol C ...

as City lost 0–1 to

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 ...

at the Crystal Palace, the only time that Bristol City have reached the FA Cup Final. He also earned his one cap for

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

v Ireland in a 4–0 win at Bradford Park Avenue on 13 February 1909. Cottle was ever present in 1909-10 making 38 appearances. He played in the opening 24 league games of 1910-11 before sustaining a broken leg during a 0–4 defeat at Preston North End on 28 January 1911. Bristol City were relegated back to the Second Division at the end of the season and Cottle left the club in the summer of 1911. There is no mention of Joe Cottle making any appearances for Bristol Rovers in the Southern League. Cottle later joined Mid Rhondda with Bill Demmery the club managed by

. Finally Cottle was a publican in Bedminster, Bristol and remained locally until his death in 1958.

Honours

Bristol City *

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 ...

champion:

1905–06 Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number), the natural number following 18 and preceding 20 * one of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (film), a 1987 science fiction film Music ...

Football League First Division The Football League First Division was a division of the Football League in England from 1888 until 2004. It was the top division in the English football league system from the season 1888–89 until 1991–92, a century in which the First ...

runner-up:

1906–07 Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number), the natural number following 18 and preceding 20 * one of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (film), a 1987 science fiction film Music ...

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 ...

runner-up:

1909 Events January–February * January 4 – Explorer Aeneas Mackintosh of the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition escaped death by fleeing across ice floes. * January 7 – Colombia recognizes the independence of Panama. * Januar ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cottle, Joe 1886 births 1958 deaths Footballers from Bristol English men's footballers England men's international footballers Men's association football fullbacks Bristol City F.C. players Bristol Rovers F.C. players Mid Rhondda F.C. players English Football League players