William Spencer (15 May 1902 – 1969) was an English footballer who played in the Football League for Crewe Alexandra and

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, which competes in the . Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, it changed its name to Stoke in 1878 and then to Stoke City in 1925 after Stoke ...

Career

Spencer was born in Nelson and played amateur for West Riding League side Hebden Bridge whilst working in a mill. He joined

in December 1924, turning professional in April 1925. Spencer replaced the long-serving Alec Milne midway through the 1925–26 season slotting into a leaky defence and relegation to the Third Division was unavoidable. Stoke won the Third Division North title in 1926–27 with Spencer forming a formidable partnership with Bob McGrory. Spencer's positional play complemented McGrory's tough-tackling, however despite their on-field empathy it was rumoured that the pair did not get along off it with Spencer easily riled by McGrory's stubbornness. Despite any-off the pitch frictions the partnership lasted for ten seasons although they both missed most of the 1931–32 season due to injury, Spencer suffering a broken leg on the opening day of the season against Chesterfield. After recovering from his injury he helped Stoke to gain promotion to the First Division in 1932–33. When McGrory became manager in 1935–36 he moved Spencer out to right-back to accommodate the emerging Charlie Scrimshaw and Spencer's form suffered as a result. After losing his place midway through the 1935–36 season to

Bill Winstanley William Ira Winstanley (26 October 1911 – 1985) was an English footballer who played in the Football League for Stoke City. Career Winstanley was born in Prestwich and played for Cheshire League side Altrincham before earning a move to Stoke ...

, Spencer became a player-coach with the reserves where he spent the next two seasons. He then moved to Crewe Alexandra for £750 in June 1938 when he played just three matches before deciding to retire. In total he played 354 games for Stoke City, without managing to score goal. Outside of football Spencer was a keen

bowls Bowls, also known as lawn bowls or lawn bowling, is a sport in which the objective is to roll biased balls so that they stop close to a smaller ball called a "jack" or "kitty". It is played on a bowling green, which may be flat (for "flat-gre ...

player and was a star player in the North Staffordshire Bowls League. During World War II he was stationed in

Carlisle Carlisle ( , ; from xcb, Caer Luel) is a city that lies within the Northern England, Northern English county of Cumbria, south of the Anglo-Scottish border, Scottish border at the confluence of the rivers River Eden, Cumbria, Eden, River C ...

and played in the same army team as Stoke teammate Harry Davies. After the war he ran the Compasses public house in

Stoke-on-Trent Stoke-on-Trent (often abbreviated to Stoke) is a city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Staffordshire, England, with an area of . In 2019, the city had an estimated population of 256,375. It is the largest settlement ...

before returning home to coach Nelson before quitting due to the onset of deafness.

Career statistics

Source:

Honours

;with Stoke City * Football League Third Division North Champions: 1926–27 * Football League Second Division Champions: 1932–33

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Spencer, Billy English men's footballers Stoke City F.C. players Crewe Alexandra F.C. players English Football League players 1902 births 1969 deaths Men's association football fullbacks People from Nelson, Lancashire Footballers from Lancashire