William Walls Jeffrey (1866 – 25 August 1932) was an English

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 in defence for various teams, including

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, Lancashire, Preston, at the confluence of the River C ...

, Woolwich Arsenal and Southampton St. Mary's in the 1890s.

Football career

Jeffrey was born in Dalderby, near

Horncastle, Lincolnshire Horncastle is a town and civil parish in the East Lindsey district in Lincolnshire, east of Lincoln. Its population was 6,815 at the 2011 census and estimated at 7,123 in 2019. A section of the ancient Roman walls remains. History Romans Alt ...

. After a spell in

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancash ...

with West Manchester, Jeffrey played for several clubs in Lincolnshire, before returning to the north-west to join

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in Association football around the wor ...

in August 1891. In the 1891–92 season, Jeffrey made seven appearances for the first team playing at

right-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

as Burnley finished seventh in the table. At this time, Burnley had a very large squad of players, including "nearly fifty Scotsmen", so the majority of their players had to content themselves by appearing in the reserve side. One of those Scotsmen was Tom Nicol, who made the No. 2 shirt his own in 1892–93 as a result of which, Jeffrey made no further first-team appearances for the

Turf Moor Turf Moor is an association football stadium in Burnley, Lancashire, England, which has been the home of Burnley F.C. since 1883. This unbroken service makes Turf Moor the second-longest continuously used ground in English professional footba ...

club. In June 1893, Jeffrey moved to London to join Woolwich Arsenal, playing 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 his one season at the Manor Ground, Jeffrey played in either of the full-back positions, making a total of 31 appearances in all competitions.Arsenal career summary
/ref> In November 1894, Jeffrey was recruited by Southampton St. Mary's who had just embarked on the inaugural season of the newly formed Southern League. Jeffrey made his "Saints" debut, taking over from

David Hamer David John Hamer (5 September 1923 – 14 January 2002) was an Australian politician and Royal Australian Navy officer. Early life and naval career Born in Melbourne, he was educated at Geelong Grammar School and then the Royal Australian Nav ...

, at

left-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

in a 2–2 draw against Millwall Athletic at the

Antelope Ground The Antelope Ground, Southampton was a sports ground that was the first home of both Hampshire County Cricket Club, who played there prior to 1884, and of Southampton Football Club, who played there from 1887 to 1896 as "Southampton St. Mary' ...

. He soon formed a "strong partnership" with

George Marshall George Catlett Marshall Jr. (December 31, 1880 – October 16, 1959) was an American army officer and statesman. He rose through the United States Army to become Chief of Staff of the United States Army, Chief of Staff of the US Army under Pre ...

and retained his place for the rest of the season, when Saints finished in third place, behind Millwall Athletic and

Luton Town Luton Town Football Club () is a professional association football club based in the town of Luton, Bedfordshire, England, that competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1885, it is nicknam ...

. Jeffrey also made two appearances in the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

, helping Southampton reach the

First round proper First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number 1 (number), one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, D ...

for the first time, going down 4–1 to

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...

of the First Division. At the end of the season, Jeffrey left the Saints and disappeared into obscurity.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jeffrey, William 1866 births 1932 deaths People from Horncastle, Lincolnshire English men's footballers English Football League players Southern Football League players Lincoln City F.C. players Grimsby Town F.C. players Gainsborough Trinity F.C. players Burnley F.C. players Arsenal F.C. players Southampton F.C. players Men's association football defenders Footballers from Lincolnshire