William John Cearns (1882 – 19 February 1950) was a

chairman The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

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 ...

club

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, hav ...

and Managing Director of

Wimbledon Stadium Wimbledon Stadium, also known as Wimbledon Greyhound Stadium, was a greyhound racing track located in Wimbledon in southwest London, England. It also hosted stock car and other small circuit motor racing events, and until 2005 hosted motorc ...

Football

Cearns was a member of a family which had been associated with West Ham since its 1900 foundation. His father, James "Jimmy" William Y. Cearns, worked for the

Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Company The Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Company, Limited was a shipyard and iron works straddling the mouth of Bow Creek at its confluence with the River Thames, at Leamouth Wharf (often referred to as Blackwall) on the west side and at Cannin ...

and was on the first committee when a

works team A works team (sometimes factory team, company team) is a sports team that is financed and run by a manufacturer or other business. Sometimes, works teams contain or are entirely made up of employees of the supporting company. Association footb ...

was formed in 1895. He was then one of the inaugural directors when the team went professional and became West Ham United in 1900. He remained a director until he died in 1934. Will was chairman from 1935 until his death in 1950. Known as "''the

Cockney Cockney is an accent and dialect of English, mainly spoken in London and its environs, particularly by working-class and lower middle-class Londoners. The term "Cockney" has traditionally been used to describe a person from the East End, or b ...

millionaire''", Cearns was involved in the construction industry and was responsible for the first underground car park in the country. He was also prominent in funding the construction of West Ham's

Boleyn Ground The Boleyn Ground, often referred to as Upton Park, was a football stadium located in Upton Park, east London. It was the home of West Ham United from 1904 to 2016, and was briefly used by Charlton Athletic in the early 1990s during their years ...

and a swimming pool in

Wanstead High School Wanstead High School (WHS), formerly Wanstead County High School, is a co-educational, non-denominational, comprehensive secondary school in Wanstead, London, United Kingdom. Admissions It specialises in the performing arts and has 1532 pu ...

Greyhound racing

Cearns was one of the most significant figures in the early history of greyhound racing. In 1928 the South London Greyhound Racecourses Ltd began construction on

. However financial difficulties halted the project until a consortium headed by Cearns whose firm had been responsible for the construction of the stadium stepped in with sufficient funds to save the project. He was the managing director at

Southend Stadium Southend Stadium was a former greyhound racing and football stadium in Grainger Road, Southend-on-Sea, Essex. It was also the home ground of Southend United between 1934 and 1955 and was also known as Greyhound Park. Origins The first greyhound ...

and became the Managing Director at Wimbledon Stadium until his death in 1950. His son John took over the position and became chairman of the

Greyhound Racing Association The Greyhound Racing Association was a UK-based private company founded in 1925 and existed until 2019. It was involved in the management of sports venues, notably greyhound racing stadia. The GRA was responsible for introducing Greyhound racing ...

. Cearns' achievements were remembered with a race inaugurated in 1950 at Wimbledon called the WJ Cearns Memorial Invitation.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cearns, Will 1882 births 1950 deaths West Ham United F.C. directors and chairmen English football chairmen and investors People in greyhound racing 20th-century English businesspeople