Samuel William Meston (30 May 1902 – 12 October 1953) was a 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 ...
who played as a
winger for
Tranmere Rovers
Tranmere Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. The team compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1884 as Belmont Football Club, they ado ...
as well as for
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 ...
,
Gillingham and
Everton.
Playing career
He was the son of a former Southampton player
Samuel Meston and was a
coppersmith
A coppersmith, also known as a brazier, is a person who makes artifacts from copper and brass. Brass is an alloy
An alloy is a mixture of chemical elements of which at least one is a metal. Unlike chemical compounds with metallic bases, an ...
by trade. He joined Southampton in January 1922 and made his debut at home to
Merthyr Town on 8 April 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 ...
in place of the injured
Bill Rawlings
William Ernest Rawlings (3 January 1896 – 25 September 1972) was an English footballer. A centre-forward, he scored more than 196 goals in 367 league games in a 15-year career.
He began his career with Southampton in 1918, who were elevated f ...
. He made a solitary appearance
the following season before converting to the right-wing position. He started the
1923–24 season on the wing in place of
Charlie Brown
Charles "Charlie" Brown is the principal character of the comic strip '' Peanuts'', syndicated in daily and Sunday newspapers in numerous countries all over the world. Depicted as a "lovable loser," Charlie Brown is one of the great American a ...
and scored twice in his third match at home to
Bury on 1 September 1923. He was just beginning to establish himself and was looking capable of emulating his father's career when his career was interrupted by a broken leg sustained in a match against
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 ...
on 6 October. The injury kept him out for a year but, before he could get back into the first team, he broke the same leg again. Although he fully recovered from his injuries, he was never the same player again and after one final come-back match (against
Chelsea
Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to:
Places Australia
* Chelsea, Victoria
Canada
* Chelsea, Nova Scotia
* Chelsea, Quebec
United Kingdom
* Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames
** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...
on 5 April 1926) he moved to
Gillingham.
He spent two seasons with Gillingham in the
Third Division South
The Third Division South 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 North with clubs elected to the League or relegated from Division Two allocated to ...
before, rather surprisingly, joining
First Division Everton in March 1928. He only managed one game for Everton in their
1927–28 championship season (where he played alongside the legendary
Dixie Dean)
before crossing the
Mersey
The River Mersey () is in North West England. Its name derives from Old English and means "boundary river", possibly referring to its having been a border between the ancient kingdoms of Mercia and Northumbria. For centuries it has formed part ...
in July 1929 to join
Tranmere Rovers
Tranmere Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. The team compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1884 as Belmont Football Club, they ado ...
in the
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 from a higher division allocated to ...
. After three seasons at
Prenton Park he returned south in 1931.
He turned out occasionally for
Newport (Isle of Wight), but took up employment as a "
bookie's runner" before he died of a
heart attack
A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which ma ...
in October 1953 aged 51.
References
External links
Everton career profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Meston, Sammy
1902 births
1953 deaths
Footballers from Southampton
English men's footballers
Southampton F.C. players
Gillingham F.C. players
Everton F.C. players
Tranmere Rovers F.C. players
Newport (IOW) F.C. players
Men's association football wingers
English Football League players
English people of Scottish descent