Henry Chambers (17 November 1896 – 29 June 1949) was an England international

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

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 ...

for

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...

and

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was formed in 1878 and has pl ...

Life and playing career

Born in

Willington Quay Willington Quay is an area in the borough of North Tyneside in Tyne and Wear in northern England. It is on the north bank of the River Tyne, facing Jarrow, and between Wallsend and North Shields. It is served by the Howdon Metro station in Howdon. ...

Northumberland Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey. It is bordered by land ...

, England, Harry was a schoolboy international at age eleven when he attended Willington

Board School School boards were public bodies in England and Wales between 1870 and 1902, which established and administered elementary schools. School boards were created in boroughs and parishes under the Elementary Education Act 1870 following campaigni ...

.The account does not mention the school national team he played against, nor identify his death place. After school he played for North Shields Athletic, Kings Park (on loan), Belfast Distillery ( wartime guest) and

Glentoran Glentoran Football Club is a professional football club that plays in the NIFL Premiership. The club was founded in 1882. History Early history In 1914, Glentoran won the Vienna Cup, becoming the first United Kingdom team to win a European t ...

(wartime guest) before he was signed, from North Shields, for the Reds by manager Tom Watson in April 1915, just before the suspension of league football due to the outbreak of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. He enlisted in Irish

infantry Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and mar ...

regiment The

Connaught Rangers The Connaught Rangers ("The Devil's Own") was an Irish line infantry regiment of the British Army formed by the amalgamation of the 88th Regiment of Foot (Connaught Rangers) (which formed the ''1st Battalion'') and the 94th Regiment of Foot (wh ...

, with whom he served until invalided out of the

army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

in 1917. He had to wait 4 years to make his debut until 30 August 1919 in a First Division match at

Valley Parade Valley Parade, known as the University of Bradford Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is an all-seater football stadium in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. Built in 1886, it was the home of Manningham Rugby Football Club until 1903, when they ...

, a game Liverpool won 3–1 against Bradford and in which Chambers opened his

Anfield Anfield is a football stadium in Anfield, Liverpool, Merseyside, England, which has a seating capacity of 53,394, making it the seventh largest football stadium in England. It has been the home of Liverpool F.C. since their formation in 189 ...

goalscoring account. After scoring on his debut he went on to establish himself as the undisputed goal king of Anfield in the immediate post-war years. Topping the club's goalscoring charts for the next five seasons, his shooting prowess was instrumental in Liverpool winning back-to-back League Championships in 1922 and 1923, he scored 41 times in 72 appearances during this spell averaging a goal every games. In total he scored 151 goals in 338 appearances for Liverpool including a memorable

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 a 5–1 win over Everton at Anfield in October 1922. The left-footer nicknamed 'Smiler' was selected by England on 8 occasions scoring 5 goals, his international debut came on 14 March 1921 in a 0-0 British Championship draw with

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

Ninian Park Ninian Park was a football stadium in the Leckwith area of Cardiff, Wales, that was the home of Cardiff City F.C. for 99 years. Opened in 1910 with a single wooden stand, it underwent numerous renovations during its lifespan and hosted fixtu ...

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

, his first goal for his country came in a 2-0 friendly victory over

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

at the Oscar Bossaert Stadion,

Molenbeek-Saint-Jean (French, ) or (Dutch, ), often simply called Molenbeek, is one of the 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located in the western part of the region, it is bordered by the City of Brussels, from which it is separated b ...

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

on 21 May 1921, Chambers best game for his country came on 22 October 1921 in a British Championship match at

The Hawthorns The Hawthorns is an all-seater football stadium in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England, with a capacity of 26,688. It has been the home of Championship club West Bromwich Albion since 1900, when it became the sixth ground to be used by the cl ...

West Bromwich West Bromwich ( ) is a market town in the borough of Sandwell, West Midlands, England. Historically part of Staffordshire, it is north-west of Birmingham. West Bromwich is part of the area known as the Black Country, in terms of geography, c ...

, it was against

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

and he scored both goals in the 2–0 victory. Harry was allowed to leave and in April 1928, aged 32, he signed for

where the forward who scored a goal every games for the Reds was converted to a centre-half! Before he retired from the professional game he went on to be player-manager for Oakengates Town (1929-1933), at the same time as running a local

public house A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and wa ...

called The Stafford Arms,Article by Toby Neal. and represent Hereford. Even after retiring Chambers, who was employed for the last ten years of his life at the factory of Messrs Sankey's in nearby Hadley, could not stay away from the game he loved and continued to play for Shropshire team Oakengates right up until his death at Shrewsbury in 1949 aged 52. He was buried at Wombridge Parish Church near Oakengates.

Career details

*Liverpool F.C (1915–1928) † 338 appearances, 151 goals - Two First Division Championships winners medals (1922 and 1923) †Although Chambers signed in 1915 he was unable to make his debut until the opening day of the 1919/20 season due to outbreak of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

of 1914/18. *England (1921–1923) 8 caps, 5 goals

References

External links

Player profile at LFChistory.net
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chambers, Harry 1896 births 1949 deaths English footballers England international footballers Association football forwards Liverpool F.C. players West Bromwich Albion F.C. players Hereford United F.C. players Oakengates Athletic F.C. players English Football League players English Football League representative players Footballers from Tyne and Wear Glentoran F.C. players British Army personnel of World War I Connaught Rangers soldiers People from Willington Quay