Oswald Littler (15 February 1907 – 21 January 1970) was an English professional

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 an

inside-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 ...

for various clubs in the 1920s and 1930s.

Football career

Littler was born in Billinge, near St Helens and played football as an amateur with various clubs including

Skelmersdale United Skelmersdale United Football Club is a football club from Skelmersdale, Lancashire. They are currently members of the and play at The Community Ground, Burscough. The club is a member of both the Liverpool F.A. and the Lancashire County Footb ...

of the

Liverpool County Football Combination The Liverpool County Football Combination was a football league based in Merseyside, England. It was founded in 1908 and had its first season in 1909–10. A second division was quickly formed, and the league ran with two divisions for the majority ...

and

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 ...

in the

Cheshire County League The Cheshire County League was a football league founded in the north west of England in 1919, drawing its teams largely from Cheshire, surrounding English counties and North Wales. Initially the league was dominated by the reserve teams of Footba ...

while working as a payroll clerk in a Lancashire colliery. His first professional contract came when he joined

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, at the foothills of the South Pennines in the dale on the River Roch, northwest of Oldham and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough ...

of the

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 ...

in July 1928. A year later, he moved to the south coast to join

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

of 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 ...

on trial, before being signed in August 1929. He made his debut for the Saints when he took the place of the injured

Jerry Mackie James"Jerry'" Mackie (1 January 1894 – 5 January 1959) was a Scottish footballer who played at inside forward for English south coast rivals, Portsmouth and then Southampton in the 1920s and 1930s. Football career Mackie was born in Mother ...

at inside-right for the home match against Chelsea on 21 September 1929. The match was won 4–2, with a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...

from Dick Rowley; this was followed by a 5–0 victory at

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...

where he scored twice, with Rowley claiming a second consecutive hat-trick. Littler retained his place for a further ten matches, scoring once more, until December 1929, when, after a run of four matches without a win, manager Arthur Chadwick made seven changes for the match at

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...

, replacing Littler with Bill Fraser. In the summer of 1930, Littler was given a free transfer and returned to

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

to join Southport. A year later, he moved on to

Barrow Barrow may refer to: Places England * Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria ** Borough of Barrow-in-Furness, local authority encompassing the wider area ** Barrow and Furness (UK Parliament constituency) * Barrow, Cheshire * Barrow, Gloucestershire * Barro ...

before winding up his career back in the Cheshire County League with

Winsford United Winsford United Football Club are a football club based in Winsford, Cheshire, England. The club was founded in 1883 and are nicknamed ''The Blues''. The club is currently a member of the , with home matches played at The Barton Stadium. Thei ...

References

External links

Career details on www.11v11.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Littler, Oswald 1907 births 1970 deaths People from Billinge, Merseyside Footballers from Merseyside Sportspeople from the Metropolitan Borough of St Helens English men's footballers Men's association football forwards Skelmersdale United F.C. players Northwich Victoria F.C. players Rochdale A.F.C. players Southampton F.C. players Southport F.C. players Barrow A.F.C. players Winsford United F.C. players English Football League players