Reginald Fidelas Vincent Freeman (20 December 1893 – 4 August 1955) was an English

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 manager.

Career

Player

Freeman played 104 times for

Oldham Athletic Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The history of Oldham Athletic ...

, making his debut in January 1921 against

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club () is a professional football club based in Horwich, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in . The club played at Burnden Park for 102 years from 1895 after moving from their original home at Pike's ...

. Freeman joined

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 ...

from the Latics in May 1923 for £3,600. Whilst playing left-back for Middlesbrough, the team won 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 ...

title in 1926–27 in impressive fashion, scoring 122 goals in 42 league games. He made 29 league appearances that season. Freeman missed the majority of the following season through injury as Middlesbrough were relegated from the First Division, but he would win another Second Division title in 1928–29 with the club. In total Freeman spent seven seasons playing at

Ayresome Park Ayresome Park was a football stadium in Middlesbrough, Yorkshire, England. It was the home of Middlesbrough F.C. from its construction in time for the 1903–04 season, until the Riverside Stadium opened in 1995. It was demolished in 1997 and r ...

before leaving for

Rotherham United Rotherham United Football Club, nicknamed The Millers, is a professional football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The club's colours were initially yellow and black, but changed to red and white around 1 ...

for £150 in 1930, where he became player-manager in 1934. He played war-time football 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 popul ...

as well.

Manager

Freeman was manager for

from 1934 to 1952. Rotherham finished as runners-up three time in succession between 1947 and 1949 and then were champions of the

Third Division North The Third Division North 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 South with clubs elected to the League or relegated from a higher division allocated to ...

in 1950–51. He was appointed as manager of Sheffield United for the 1952–53 season, and immediately led the club to the Second Division title. United narrowly avoid relegation in 1953–54, finishing 20th in the First Division. Other season highlights include the debut of goalkeeper

Alan Hodgkinson Alan Hodgkinson MBE (16 August 1936 – 8 December 2015) was an English professional football goalkeeper and goalkeeping coach. Playing career Hodgkinson signed for Sheffield United from Worksop Town on 1 August 1953, and made 675 first-team ap ...

, plus the first floodlit game at

Bramall Lane Bramall Lane is a association football, football stadium in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which is the home of Sheffield United F.C., Sheffield United. The stadium was originally a cricket ground, built on a road named after the Bramal ...

since the 19th century. Two big defeats early in the 1954–55 season caused concern, but United completed the league double over Steel City derby rivals Wednesday on their way to a 13th-place finish. However Freeman was taken ill and died before the start of the 1955–56 season.

Career statistics

Honours

Player

Middlesbrough * Football League Second Division champions: 1926–27, 1928–29

Manager

Rotherham United * Football League Third Division North champions: 1950–51 Sheffield United * Football League Second Division champions: 1952–53

References

1893 births 1955 deaths Northern Nomads F.C. players Oldham Athletic A.F.C. players Middlesbrough F.C. players Rotherham United F.C. players English Football League players English football managers Rotherham United F.C. managers Sheffield United F.C. managers English Football League managers English footballers Association football fullbacks {{England-footy-bio-stub