Fred Spiksley (25 January 1870 – 28 July 1948) 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, rugb ...

and coach, who played as a forward for

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot ...

and

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 ...

. He also played for Gainsborough Trinity, Glossop North End,

Leeds City Leeds City Football Club was the leading professional club in Leeds, England, before the First World War. It was dissolved in 1919 due to financial irregularities, after which Leeds United was established as a replacement. History The club w ...

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 ...

. After retiring as a player in 1906, he worked as a coach and won national league titles in

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic countries, Nordic c ...

Mexico Mexico (Spanish language, Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a List of sovereign states, country in the southern portion of North America. It is borders of Mexico, bordered to the north by the United States; to the so ...

and

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

. During the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

he was arrested but escaped from a German Police prison.

Early and personal life

Spiksley was born in Gainsborough, the son of a boilermaker. He was married to Ellen with a son, Fred Jr. He and Ellen later divorced due to his adultery. Spiksley was also a gambler who suffered heavy losses and was made bankrupt in 1909.

Playing career

After playing for local teams in Gainsborough, including Gainsborough Trinity (for whom he had scored 131 goals in 126 appearances), he signed for

Wednesday Wednesday is the day of the week between Tuesday and Thursday. According to international standard ISO 8601, it is the third day of the week. In countries which have Friday as their holiday, Wednesday is the fifth day of the week. In countrie ...

in 1891. His later career was marred by injury (including a serious knee injury in 1903) and he played for

, Southern United and

. He was also an England international.

Coaching career

After retiring as a player Spiskley joined the circus, and worked in a theatre with

Charlie Chaplin Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin Jr. (16 April 188925 December 1977) was an English comic actor, filmmaker, and composer who rose to fame in the era of silent film. He became a worldwide icon through his screen persona, the Tramp, and is conside ...

. He then became a football coach who worked in Sweden, Germany, France, Switzerland, Belgium, Spain, the United States, Peru and Mexico, as well as in England. After World War I broke out, he was coaching in Germany and was held in Ruhleben internment camp along with his son. His wife managed to secure their release, and the family moved to Switzerland. He then returned to England but was deemed unfit to serve in the War due to his earlier knee injury, which Spiksley exacerbated by dislocating his knee at will to fool the medical examiner. He spent the war working in Sheffield as a munitions inspector, resuming his coaching career after the war ended. He ended his career coaching at the King Edward VII School in Sheffield.

Playing style

Spiksley was a "slight and silky winger" who was described as the "fastest man in football" by his England international team-mate

Billy Bassett William Isiah Bassett (27 January 1869 – 8 April 1937) was an English association footballer, director, and club chairman who served West Bromwich Albion for over half a century. Biography Playing career Born in West Bromwich, the eldest of ...

Later life and death

Spiksley and his wife divorced due to his adultery. He died from a heart attack at the age of 78 whilst attending Ladies' Day at

Goodwood Racecourse Goodwood Racecourse is a horse-racing track five miles north of Chichester, West Sussex, in England controlled by the family of the Duke of Richmond, whose seat is nearby Goodwood House. It hosts the annual Glorious Goodwood meeting in ...

in 1948.

References

External links

*
Profile on englandfootballonline
{{DEFAULTSORT:Spiksley, Fred 1870 births 1948 deaths AIK Fotboll managers English footballers England international footballers English football managers Gainsborough Trinity F.C. players Sheffield Wednesday F.C. players Glossop North End A.F.C. players Leeds City F.C. players Watford F.C. players Fulham F.C. non-playing staff People from Gainsborough, Lincolnshire TSV 1860 Munich managers 1. FC Nürnberg managers FC Lausanne-Sport managers World War I civilian detainees held by Germany English expatriate football managers English Football League representative players English Football League players Association football midfielders Escapees from German detention FA Cup Final players