''For other people of the same name see Billy Lane and

Billy Lane (angler) ''For other people of the same name see Billy Lane and Billy Lane (footballer)'' Billy Lane (1922–1980) was an English angler and author. Lane, a son of a Coventry fishing tackle shop owner, was a well-known match fisherman of the mid- ...

'' William Henry Charles Lane (23 October 1904 – 10 November 1985) was an English football centre forward, best remembered for his time in

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 ...

with Watford and Brentford, making over 120 appearances for each club.

Club career

After playing for the London City Mission, Gnome Athletic and Park Avondale, Lane joined

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. The team has playe ...

in 1922 for the first time but left the club without appearing in a senior match. He went on to play for Summerstown and Barnet before re-joining Tottenham after a spell with the club's " nursery" team

Northfleet United Northfleet United Football Club was a football club based in Northfleet, Kent. Around 1890 organised team football was being played in the town and in 1892 the Northfleet F.C. club was founded. It flourished for a few years in the mid-1890s u ...

. Lane, a centre forward, went on to feature in 36 matches and found the net on 12 occasions between 1924 and 1926. Lane's time with Spurs came to an end after manager

Peter McWilliam Peter McWilliam (21 September 1879 – 1 October 1951) was a Scottish association football, footballer who played at left-half for Inverness Thistle F.C., Inverness Thistle, Newcastle United F.C., Newcastle United and Scotland national football ...

dropped him after Lane kicked the ball into the crowd after having a goal disallowed in a match versus Preston North End. Lane had been courting the attention of the

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

selectors at the time, who were present at the match, but unimpressed with his behaviour. The incident ended Lane's chances of an international call-up and his Tottenham career. After leaving

White Hart Lane White Hart Lane was a football stadium in Tottenham, North London and the home of Tottenham Hotspur Football Club from 1899 to 2017. Its capacity varied over the years; when changed to all-seater it had a capacity of 36,284 before demolition. ...

, Lane appeared for

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the National ...

(joining for £2250),

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of letters, symbols, etc., especially by sight or touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process involving such areas as word recognition, orthography (spelling ...

and Brentford, where he scored 89 goals in 123 appearances. As of 2015, his record of seven league

hat-tricks A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wi ...

is second behind club record-holder Jack Holliday and his 33-goal haul in the 1929–30 season was a club record until Holliday broke it in 1932–33. Despite his excellent form for the Bees, Lane was transfer-listed by manager Harry Curtis, who needed the money from Lane's sale to fund the transfer of

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

players Jack Holliday, Bert Watson and Billy Scott. Lane signed for

Watford Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, and ...

in a £1500 deal in 1932 and the following year scored a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...

in the Football League in under three minutes against

Clapton 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 profess ...

on 20 December 1933, then a record. He featured in a total of 136 matches for Watford in all competitions, scoring 77 goals and went on to have spells at

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England, which compete in the , the second tier of English football. They have played their home games at Ashton Gate since moving from St John's Lane in 1904. The ...

, Clapton Orient and finally Gravesend United.

Managerial and coaching career

In 1945, Lane turned down the manager's job at Clapton Orient to return to Brentford as a

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 ...

under Harry Curtis. He remained with the Bees before going into management with Guildford City. He later moved on to manage

Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club (), commonly referred to simply as Brighton, is an English professional football club based in the city of Brighton and Hove. They compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league ...

and Gravesend & Northfleet. He managed Brighton & Hove Albion to its first ever Football League title, as 1957–58

Third Division South The Third Division South of The Football League was a tier in the English football league system from 1921 to 1958. It ran in parallel with the Third Division North with clubs elected to the League or relegated from Division Two allocated to ...

champions. After leaving Gravesend & Northfleet, Lane became a scout for Arsenal and later returned to Brighton & Hove Albion in a similar role. He was still working for Albion at the time of his death in 1985.

Personal life

Lane served as a PT instructor during the

Second World War 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 opposi ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lane, Billy 1904 births 1985 deaths Footballers from Tottenham English men's footballers Gnome Athletic F.C. players Tottenham Hotspur F.C. players Summerstown F.C. players Barnet F.C. players Northfleet United F.C. players Leicester City F.C. players Reading F.C. players Brentford F.C. players Watford F.C. players Bristol City F.C. players Leyton Orient F.C. players Gravesend United F.C. players English Football League players Southern Football League players English football managers Guildford City F.C. managers Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. managers Ebbsfleet United F.C. managers Southern Football League managers English Football League managers Arsenal F.C. non-playing staff Brentford F.C. non-playing staff Men's association football forwards Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. wartime guest players Clapton Orient F.C. wartime guest players Reading F.C. wartime guest players Watford F.C. wartime guest players Military personnel from Middlesex British military personnel of World War II