Edward John Peers (31 December 1886 – 20 September 1935) was a

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

international

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

. He won 12 caps for Wales and spent 1911 to 1921 at

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...

and then January 1922 to May 1923 at

Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in . Vale are the only English Football League club not to be named after a place; their name being a reference to the valley o ...

Career

Peers played for Oswestry St. Clair's,

Chirk Chirk ( cy, Y Waun) is a town and community in Wrexham County Borough, Wales, south of Wrexham, between it and Oswestry. At the 2011 census, it had a population of 4,468. Historically in the traditional county of Denbighshire, and later Clwy ...

, Connah's Quay Juniors, Connah's Quay Victoria, Connah's Quay, Shotton and

Hednesford Town Hednesford Town Football Club is a football club based in Hednesford, Staffordshire, England. They are currently members of the and play at Keys Park. History The club was established in 1880 as a merger of the Red & Whites and Hill Top.

, before advancing to 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 ...

with

in April 1911. They finished fifth in 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 ...

in 1911–12, tenth in 1912–13, ninth in 1913–14, and fourth in 1914–15. He had a trial at

Shrewsbury Town Shrewsbury Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of English football. The club plays its home games at the New Meadow, having mo ...

and guested for

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 Stoke City during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. He played 31 games for the "Potters" in 1917–18 and made 28 appearances at the

Victoria Ground The Victoria Ground was the home ground of Stoke City from 1878 until 1997, when the club relocated to the Britannia Stadium after 119 years. At the time of its demolition it was the oldest operational ground in the Football League. History ...

in 1918–19. He returned to Molineux, and helped "Wolves" to finish 19th in 1919–20 and 1920–21. Peers spent six months at

, before he joined

in January 1922 and became the club's first choice goalkeeper with

Walter Smith Walter Ferguson Smith (24 February 1948 – 26 October 2021) was a Scottish association football player, manager and director, primarily associated with his two spells as manager of Glasgow club Rangers. A defender, Smith's playing car ...

out injured. He was the first Vale player to be capped whilst at the club. He was so confident in his defenders that he spent a lot of his time casually leaning on one of his

goalpost In sport, a goal may refer to either an instance of scoring, or to the physical structure or area where an attacking team must send the ball or puck in order to score points. The structure of a goal varies from sport to sport, and one is place ...

s. He played 15 Second Division games in the 1921–22 season, and oversaw a club record seven consecutive league games. He made 43 appearances in the 1922–23 campaign, with Daniel Smith deputizing in one match. He retired from league football at

The Old Recreation Ground The Old Recreation Ground was a football stadium located in Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent, England, and home to Port Vale F.C. from 1913 to 1950. It was the sixth ground the club used. Structure and facilities The stadium was in rather bad condit ...

in May 1923 and returned to

for a three-year spell. He went on to run the New Inn and several other pubs in the

Wolverhampton Wolverhampton () is a city, metropolitan borough and administrative centre in the West Midlands, England. The population size has increased by 5.7%, from around 249,500 in 2011 to 263,700 in 2021. People from the city are called "Wulfrunian ...

area.

Career statistics

Club statistics

Source:

International statistics

Honours

Port Vale *North Staffordshire Infirmary Cup: 1922

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Peers, Teddy 1886 births 1935 deaths People from Connah's Quay Welsh footballers Wales international footballers Association football goalkeepers Chirk AAA F.C. players Connah's Quay F.C. players Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. players Walsall F.C. wartime guest players Stoke City F.C. wartime guest players Port Vale F.C. players Hednesford Town F.C. players English Football League players