Ronald William Starling (11 October 1909 – 17 December 1991) was an 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 ...

whose career lasted from 1926 to 1946. Starling was 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 ...

who made 413 appearances in all competitions, never a high scoring inside forward he was a player who created chances for other players, notching a modest 65 goals throughout his career. His ball carrying ability earned him the nickname of "The Man with the Fluttering Feet".

Playing career

Born in

Pelaw Pelaw () is a residential area in Gateshead, located around from Newcastle upon Tyne, from Sunderland, and from Durham. In 2011, Census data for the Gateshead Metropolitan Borough Council ward of ''Heworth and Pelaw'' recorded a total populatio ...

County Durham County Durham ( ), officially simply Durham,UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. is a ceremonial county in North East England.North East Assembly �About North East E ...

, Ronnie Starling represented Durham County schools as a youth and began working in the coal mines in the north-east at the age of 14, firstly at Usworth colliery and then

Washington Colliery Washington Football Club is a football club based in Washington, Tyne and Wear, England. The club was formed by the local miners at the local "F-Pit" Colliery in the early 20th century as Washington Colliery F.C. The club's distinctive red colo ...

. He was spotted by

Hull City Hull City Association Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Kingston upon Hull, Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, that compete in the . They have played home games at the MKM Stadium since moving ...

manager

Billy McCracken William Robert McCracken (29 January 1883 – 20 January 1979) was a Northern Irish footballer who played as a defender. He is famous for inventing the offside trap. He was a cousin of Robert McCracken who also had a career as a professional f ...

while playing amateur football for Washington Colliery and signed for the Yorkshire club in October 1926 at the age of 17.

Hull City

Starling initially worked in the club offices whilst playing for the club as an amateur. He was part of the side which reached the

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 ...

semi-final in the 1929–30 season, losing to

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

after a replay. Despite their good cup form that season the team struggled in Division Two and were heading for relegation when soon after the semi-final he returned to his native North-East with a £3,750 move to

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End ...

in May 1930.

Newcastle United

Starling was a regular in the Newcastle team in his first season at

St James' Park St James' Park is a football stadium in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It is the home of Premier League club Newcastle United F.C. With a seating capacity of 52,305 seats, it is the eighth largest football stadium in England. St James' Park ...

(1930–31) making 38 appearances however the following campaign he only made 15 appearances losing his place in the side before Christmas to new signing Harry McMenemy. He took no part all in Newcastle's

run which saw the team beat

2–1 in the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

and on 25 June 1932 he signed for

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot of ...

in a £3,250 deal.

Sheffield Wednesday

Starling was signed by

Bob Brown Robert James Brown (born 27 December 1944) is a former Australian politician, medical doctor and environmentalist. He was a senator and the parliamentary leader of the Australian Greens. Brown was elected to the Australian Senate on the Tasman ...

but within a year Billy Walker was in charge. Walker made Starling club captain and played him in a central midfield role prompting him to produce the best football of his career. He played for ''The Owls'' for four-and-a-half years, as Wednesday finished third in Division One two seasons running and captained their 1935 FA Cup-winning team. He also played as Wednesday won the

1935 FA Charity Shield The 1935 FA Charity Shield was the 22nd FA Charity Shield, a football match between the winners of the previous season's First Division and FA Cup competitions. The match was contested by league champions Arsenal and FA Cup winners Sheffield W ...

. In April 1933, he won his first

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 ...

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. Caps typically have a visor, or no brim at all. They are popular in casual and informal se ...

, playing as inside right in the 2–1 defeat by

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 ...

. As Wednesday struggled near the bottom of Division One, Starling joined

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 ...

for £6,900 on 6 January 1937, just a day after they had rejected a huge bid for

Jackie Robinson Jack Roosevelt Robinson (January 31, 1919 – October 24, 1972) was an American professional baseball player who became the first African American to play in Major League Baseball (MLB) in the modern era. Robinson broke the baseball color line ...

from Arsenal."''Sheffield Wednesday, Illustrating The Greats''", Michael Liversidge & Gary Mackender, Page 8 Gives biographical information. In total he played 176 league matches for Wednesday scoring 31 goals, and appeared in 17 FA Cup matches without scoring.

Aston Villa

Starling was a prominent member of Villa's 1937–38 side which won promotion to Division One. During his time with Villa he made his second England appearance on 17 April 1937, also against Scotland, as inside left in the 3–1 defeat. He remained on the books at Villa Park throughout

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

winning the Football League North in 1944, although he did make guest appearances for

Northampton Town Northampton Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Northampton, England. The team plays in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1897, the club competed in the Midland ...

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands County, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located north-west of Birmingham, east ...

and Sheffield Wednesday during the conflict. After the war he made single appearances in the League and FA Cup in 1946 before losing his place in the team and finally retiring in 1948, aged 39.www.englandstats.com.
Gives England details.

Retirement

After retiring as a player, he spent time as a coach with

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 ...

before retiring from football altogether, becoming a

newsagent A newsagent's shop or simply newsagent's or paper shop (British English), newsagency (Australian English) or newsstand (American and Canadian English) is a business that sells newspapers, magazines, cigarettes, snacks and often items of local ...

, with a shop on Middlewood Road near to Sheffield Wednesday's Hillsborough ground.''"The Wednesday Boys"'', Jason Dickinson & John Brodie, Page 284 Gives biographical information. Sheffield Wednesday won the

1991 Football League Cup Final The 1991 Football League Cup Final was a football match played on 21 April 1991 between Manchester United and Sheffield Wednesday. It was the first of two years that the competition was sponsored by Rumbelows. Despite the previous season's FA Cu ...

, Wednesday's first trophy since Ronnie Starling lifted the FA Cup in 1935. Starling was photographed for the ''

Sheffield Star ''The Star'', often known as the ''Sheffield Star'', is a daily newspaper published in Sheffield, England, from Monday to Saturday each week. Originally a broadsheet, the newspaper became a tabloid in 1993. ''The Star'', the weekly ''Sheffield ...

'' newspaper with the trophy and Wednesday players shortly before his death on 17 December 1991, aged 82.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Starling, Ronnie 1909 births English footballers England international footballers People from Pelaw Footballers from Tyne and Wear Hull City A.F.C. players Newcastle United F.C. players Sheffield Wednesday F.C. players Aston Villa F.C. players 1991 deaths Association football forwards FA Cup Final players