William James Alfred Stroud (7 July 1919 – 5 October 2006) was a

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 ...

player and

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

who played as a

wing half A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

. Born in

Hammersmith Hammersmith is a district of West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, and identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. ...

, Stroud played the first half of his professional career with

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

, and later played for

Leyton Orient Leyton Orient Football Club is a professional football club based in Leyton, East London, England, who compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. They are the second oldest football club in London to play at a professio ...

, Newport County and Hastings United. He retired from professional football in 1954, after which he worked in coaching positions at former clubs Newport County and Southampton.

Life and career

Stroud was a product of youth football in

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

, and eventually signed as a youth player at

in May 1938 at the age of 18. He signed professional terms with the club in February 1940, and during the break from competitive football due to

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

made almost 200 appearances and converted from a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

to a

. Despite this lengthy allegiance to the Saints, Stroud spent only the first season after the war with the club 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 ...

, making 29 league appearances and scoring four goals, mainly from the right side of the half back line. In June 1947 Stroud joined

as part of a deal which saw full back Ted Ballard taking his place in the Southampton squad. First-team league football was similarly available for the wing half at the London club, and Stroud made 65 league appearances for the team in three seasons. In June 1950 he moved up to Welsh side Newport County for three seasons, and later finished his playing career with Southern League side Hastings United. After retiring from playing, Stroud returned to Newport County as coach of the reserves team, where he remained for nine years before returning to Southampton to work as youth team assistant coach. During his 24-year stint with the

Southampton Academy Southampton Academy is a small, private school located in Courtland, Virginia. Southampton Academy, also known locally as "SA" provides education for students from pre-kindergarten through the 12th grade. Southampton Academy was founded in 1969 ...

, Stroud assisted in the development of such legendary Saints players as

Mick Channon Michael Roger Channon (born 28 November 1948) is an English former professional footballer who played as a forward, most notably for Southampton, and went on to represent the England national team in the 1970s. Scoring over 250 goals in his c ...

Matthew Le Tissier Matthew Paul Le Tissier (; born 14 October 1968) is a former professional footballer. Born in Guernsey, he won eight caps for the England national team. Le Tissier spent his entire professional club career with Southampton before turning to no ...

and

Alan Shearer Alan Shearer CBE DL (born 13 August 1970) is an English football pundit and retired football player and manager who played as a striker. Widely regarded as one of the best strikers of his generation and one of the greatest players in Premie ...

, before retiring in 1987 after briefly working as the coach for a Hants Intermediate XI team.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stroud, Bill 1919 births Footballers from Hammersmith 2006 deaths English men's footballers English Football League players Southampton F.C. players Leyton Orient F.C. players Newport County A.F.C. players Hastings United F.C. (1948) players Newport County A.F.C. non-playing staff Southampton F.C. non-playing staff Men's association football midfielders