Joseph Holmes Gettins

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

, DSO, BA (19 November 1873 – 6 June 1954) was an English amateur

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

centre forward Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

. He is best remembered for his association with Millwall Athletic and he played in 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 ...

for hometown club Middlesbrough.

Club career

Millwall Athletic

An amateur

, Gettins' longest association was with Millwall Athletic, playing for the club in multiple spells between 1892 and 1904, by which time the club was simply known as Millwall. He scored an impressive 69 goals in 71 appearances with the club and won the 1894–95 and 1895–96 Southern League titles back to back, in addition to two United League titles and two FA Cup semi-finals.

Middlesbrough

Gettins appeared for hometown club Middlesbrough in four spells and was a part of the club's 1894–95

FA Amateur Cup The FA Amateur Cup was an English football competition for amateur clubs. It commenced in 1893 and ended in 1974 when the Football Association abolished official amateur status. History Following the legalisation of professionalism within footba ...

-winning team. He also helped the club to the 1896–97

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 ...

title and played in Middlesbrough's first ever

match against Lincoln City on 2 September 1899.

Brentford

Gettins had a short spell with non-League club

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings whi ...

during the 1894–95 season and his student friends inadvertently created the club's ''Bees'' nickname, by chanting

Borough Road College Borough Road is in Southwark, London SE1. It runs east–west between St George's Circus and Borough High Street. History and location The route was created as part of the planning and road improvements associated with the completion of We ...

war-cry A battle cry or war cry is a yell or chant taken up in battle, usually by members of the same combatant group. Battle cries are not necessarily articulate (e.g. "Eulaliaaaa!", "Alala"..), although they often aim to invoke patriotic or religious ...

"buck up Bs" at a match. He made three cup appearances for the club.

Representative career

Gettins was one of 14 players included in Corinthian squad which toured South Africa in 1897, the first English team to play outside Europe.

Personal life

Gettins served as a

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

(being promoted to a temporary

major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

for a time) in the

Royal Army Service Corps The Royal Army Service Corps (RASC) was a corps of the British Army responsible for land, coastal and lake transport, air despatch, barracks administration, the Army Fire Service, staffing headquarters' units, supply of food, water, fuel and dom ...

Territorial Force during the First World War. He was awarded the DSO in 1918. Before and after the war, Gettins worked in various teaching roles at Isleworth School, Borough Road College, Reading University and Liverpool University. In 1920, he returned to the army and became Chief Education Officer of the Army Education Corps and later commanded the Army School of Education, having risen to the rank of

lieutenant colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

by the time of his retirement in 1933. Gettins was awarded an

1933 Events January * January 11 – Sir Charles Kingsford Smith makes the first commercial flight between Australia and New Zealand. * January 17 – The United States Congress votes in favour of Philippines independence, against the wis ...

Career statistics

Honours

Millwall Athletic * Southern League First Division: 1894–95, 1895–96 * United League: 1896–97, 1898–99 Middlesbrough *

: 1896–97 *

: 1894–95

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gettins, Joe English men's footballers Footballers from Middlesbrough Brentford F.C. players English Football League players Men's association football forwards Millwall F.C. players 1954 deaths Middlesbrough F.C. players Corinthian F.C. players Southern Football League players Officers of the Order of the British Empire Companions of the Distinguished Service Order British Army personnel of World War I Royal Army Service Corps officers Northern Football League players Royal Army Educational Corps officers 1873 births Military personnel from North Yorkshire