Reginald Boyne (16 November 1891 – 10 March 1963) was a New Zealand professional footballer who played as an inside forward 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

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park ...

and

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 ...

Career

Early years

Boyne began his career in intermediate football in Auckland, New Zealand with Everton, which was named after the English club, before travelling to England to play junior football in Yorkshire.

Aston Villa

Boyne joined high-flying First Division club

on trial in August 1913 and was awarded a professional contract in December that year. He made his professional debut in a 1–0 defeat to Bradford City on 27 December 1913. Boyne made just three further appearances during the 1913–14 season and only managed four appearances during the whole of the 1914–15 season, before competitive football was suspended due to the ongoing First World War. Boyne made a further five wartime appearances for Villa, before departing in August 1919.

Guest appearances

During the First World War, Boyne appeared as a guest for Notts County, Leicester Fosse and Loughborough Brush. He made 23 appearances and scored two goals in the Football League Midland Section for Leicester.

Brentford

Boyne joined Southern League First Division club

in August 1919. Despite suffering with knee trouble, Boyne had a good 1919–20 season, top-scoring with 13 goals. He was retained for the 1920–21 season and received another chance at league football, with Brentford having entered into the newly created

Third Division In sport, the Third Division, also called Division 3, Division Three, or Division III, is often the third-highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Association football *Belgian Thir ...

. Boyne had the honour of scoring Brentford's first Football League goal, which came with the only goal of the game versus Millwall on 30 August 1920. In a dire debut season (at the end of which the Bees had to apply for re-election), Boyne scored 10 goals in 22 games. He was released in May 1921 and returned to New Zealand.

Personal life

Born in Leeds as the eldest son of William Boyne and Mary Ellen Waddington, Boyne emigrated to New Zealand with his family at a young age. Boyne's father was president of the Everton club in Auckland, where he and both his younger brothers, Harold and William played before the First World War broke out. Harold was killed in action on the

Western Front Western Front or West Front may refer to: Military frontiers *Western Front (World War I), a military frontier to the west of Germany *Western Front (World War II), a military frontier to the west of Germany *Western Front (Russian Empire), a majo ...

on 21 February 1917.

Career statistics

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boyne, Reginald 1891 births 1963 deaths New Zealand men's association footballers English men's footballers Footballers from Leeds Men's association football inside forwards English Football League players Southern Football League players Brentford F.C. players Aston Villa F.C. players Notts County F.C. wartime guest players Leicester City F.C. wartime guest players Brush Sports F.C. players