William Middleton Grant (14 November 1904 – 23 September 1994) was a Scottish 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 ...

. He spent eight years at

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the North West England, northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the Borough of Blackpool, borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, betw ...

, making over 200

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appearances for the club. He played as a defender.

Career

Grant, who had been signed from Scottish club

East Stirlingshire East Stirlingshire Football Club is a Scotland, Scottish association football club based in the town of Falkirk. The club was founded in 1881 and competes in the , in the fifth tier of the Scottish football league system. The club's origins ca ...

for a then record fee of £1600 for a second division player, made his debut for Blackpool eighteen games into their 1927–28 league season, a 2–2 draw at

South Shields South Shields () is a coastal town in South Tyneside, Tyne and Wear, England. It is on the south bank of the mouth of the River Tyne. Historically, it was known in Roman times as Arbeia, and as Caer Urfa by Early Middle Ages. According to the 20 ...

on 10 December 1927. He went on to make seventeen further league appearances that campaign, and one in the FA Cup.Calley, Roy (1992). '' Blackpool: A Complete Record 1887–1992'', Breedon Books Sport, p. 230 The following season, 1928–29, Grant made 27 league appearances. This was under a new manager, Harry Evans, who succeeded

Sydney Beaumont Sydney Beaumont (8 October 1884 – May 1939) was an English professional footballer and football manager, runner and cricketer. He played at both half back and left wing during his football career and won many trophies for middle-distance ru ...

.Calley, Roy (1992). ''Blackpool: A Complete Record 1887–1992'', Breedon Books Sport, p. 232 Grant appeared in all but two of Blackpool's league games as captain in 1929–30 as the club won the

Division Two NCL Division Two The NCL or National Conference League Division Two (known as the Kingstone Press NCL Division Two) League winners {, class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;" , - , colspan=4 style="text-align:center;" , NCL DIVISION TWO , ...

championship. Only

Jimmy Hampson James Hampson (23 March 1906 – 10 January 1938) was an English professional footballer. He spent eleven seasons at Blackpool, where he remains record goalscorer with 252 goals in 373 games, and is still regarded as one of the best centre forw ...

appeared in more games than he did.Calley, Roy (1992). ''Blackpool: A Complete Record 1887–1992'', Breedon Books Sport, p. 234 In 1930–31, Blackpool's first season in English football's top flight, Grant was ever-present in the club's 42 league games — the only player at the club to claim such an achievement that particular season.Calley, Roy (1992). ''Blackpool: A Complete Record 1887–1992'', Breedon Books Sport, p. 236 He achieved the same feat the following season, 1931–32, sharing the honour with Hampson.Calley, Roy (1992). ''Blackpool: A Complete Record 1887–1992'', Breedon Books Sport, p. 238 1932–33 saw Grant's appearances limited, with only eighteen in the league to his name, as Blackpool returned to Division Two. He did, however, appear in the club's FA Cup fifth-round defeat at

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

in February 1933.Calley, Roy (1992). ''Blackpool: A Complete Record 1887–1992'', Breedon Books Sport, p. 240

Sandy MacFarlane Alexander MacFarlane (1878 – 22 December 1945) was a Scottish professional football player and manager. As a player, he won the Scottish Cup with Dundee in 1910. As a manager, he won the Third Division South with Charlton Athletic in 1929. ...

was appointed as Blackpool manager for the 1933–34 term, and Grant found himself surplus to requirements, making just five league starts.Calley, Roy (1992). ''Blackpool: A Complete Record 1887–1992'', Breedon Books Sport, p. 242 He was given more chances in 1934–35 (28 appearances), but this proved to be his (and MacFarlane's) last season with the club. His 220th and final league appearance for Blackpool occurred on 4 May 1935, in a final-day 1–1 draw with

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club () is a professional football club based in Horwich, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in . The club played at Burnden Park for 102 years from 1895 after moving from their original home at Pike's ...

at Bloomfield Road.Calley, Roy (1992). ''Blackpool: A Complete Record 1887–1992'', Breedon Books Sport, p. 244 He finished his career back in his native land with

Motherwell Motherwell ( sco, Mitherwall, gd, Tobar na Màthar) is a town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Historically in the parish of Dalziel and part of Lanarks ...

,Willie Grant
MotherWELLnet playing right back in an 8–0 win against

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...

on 30 April 1937, to date Celtic's biggest ever defeat. He continued to play there until he retired in 1939. He then worked as a miner for many years in various pits around is home town of Bo'ness.

Notes

References

*
SoccerMistral.co.uk
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Grant, William 1904 births Scottish men's footballers Bo'ness F.C. players East Stirlingshire F.C. players Blackpool F.C. players Motherwell F.C. players English Football League players People from Bo'ness 1994 deaths Footballers from Falkirk (council area) Scottish Football League players Men's association football defenders