Walter Anthony (21 November 1879 – 26 January 1950) 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 made 155

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 ...

appearances playing as an outside forward for Nottingham Forest and Blackburn Rovers, with whom he won the

1911–12 Football League The 1911– 12 season was the 24th season of The Football League. Blackburn Rovers won the First Division title for the first time. Bury and Preston North End were relegated to the Second Division, and their places in the First Division were t ...

title and the

1912 FA Charity Shield The 1912 Football Association Charity Shield was played on 4 May 1912. The game was played at White Hart Lane, home of Tottenham Hotspur, and was contested by the Football League champions Blackburn Rovers and the winners of the Southern League ...

. He also played in the Southern League for Brighton & Hove Albion.

Life and career

Anthony was born in Basford, Nottinghamshire. He was the younger brother of George and Henry Anthony, who both played

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

for that county. He began his football career at local level with clubs including Osmaston, Heanor Town, Newstead Byron and Arnold before signing for

Football League First Division The Football League First Division was a division of the Football League in England from 1888 until 2004. It was the top division in the English football league system from the season 1888–89 until 1991–92, a century in which the First ...

club Nottingham Forest in February 1904 for a fee reported as £25. He made six league appearances for Forest, but was reportedly not thought strong enough for top-class football, and moved on to Brighton & Hove Albion of the Southern League in May 1905. He worked on his physical conditioning at his new club, and became a regular at outside right in the first team with 13 goals from 119 appearances in all competitions over two-and-a-half years. Described by club historian Tim Carder as "a tricky little ball-player, noted for the accuracy of his crosses with either foot", he attracted attention from bigger clubs. After Brighton eliminated First Division

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional football club in Preston, Lancashire, England, who currently play in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league syste ...

from the

1907–08 FA Cup The 1907–08 FA Cup was the 37th staging of the world's oldest association football competition, the Football Association Challenge Cup (more usually known as the FA Cup). Wolverhampton Wanderers won the competition for the second time, beating ...

after two replays, Blackburn Rovers were convinced to sign Anthony and two teammates,

Dick Wombwell Richard Wombwell (1877 – 1943) was an English footballer. His regular position was as a forward. He was born in Nottingham, Nottinghamshire. He played for Bulwell, Ilkeston Town, Derby County, Bristol City, Manchester United, Heart of Midlo ...

and Joe Lumley, for "a substantial sum", widely reported as £750. The Football Association had recently imposed a rule forbidding more than £350 to be paid for any single player, and it was understood that Anthony was the primary target and Lumley and Wombwell were makeweights in the circumvention of that maximum. Anthony soon established himself at outside left in Blackburn's first team. He made 149 league appearances, was part of the

-winning side, and played in the Charity Shield, in which Blackburn beat Southern League champions Queens Park Rangers 2–1 in aid of the

Titanic Disaster The sank in the early morning hours of 15 April 1912 in the North Atlantic Ocean, four days into her maiden voyage from Southampton to New York City. The largest ocean liner in service at the time, ''Titanic'' had an estimated 2,224 pe ...

Fund. He appeared only once in 1913–14 as Rovers again finished as champions. At the end of the season, the

gave Rovers permission to pay Anthony a lump sum in lieu of the benefit match for which he qualified after five years service. He moved on in January 1915, to

Stalybridge Celtic Stalybridge Celtic Football Club is an English football club based in Stalybridge, Greater Manchester. They are currently members of the and play at Bower Fold. The team traditionally plays in a blue and white strip. In 1921 Stalybridge Celtic ...

of the Lancashire Combination. Anthony served in the Army in the First World War, and then worked in the mines. He spent 18 years in the dispatch department of a Nottingham car parts supplier, working until two days before his death in Basford in January 1950 at the age of 70.

Honours

Blackburn Rovers * The Football League: 1911–12 *

FA Charity Shield The Football Association Community Shield (formerly the Charity Shield) is English football's annual match contested at Wembley Stadium between the champions of the previous Premier League season and the holders of the FA Cup. If the Premier Le ...

1912 Events January * January 1 – The Republic of China (1912–49), Republic of China is established. * January 5 – The Prague Conference (6th All-Russian Conference of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party) opens. * January 6 ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Anthony, Walter 1879 births 1950 deaths People from Basford, Nottinghamshire Footballers from Nottinghamshire English men's footballers Men's association football outside forwards Heanor Town F.C. players Newstead Byron F.C. players Nottingham Forest F.C. players Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. players Blackburn Rovers F.C. players Stalybridge Celtic F.C. players English Football League players Southern Football League players