Sam Chedgzoy (27 January 1889 – 7 January 1967) 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, rugby ...

who changed the laws of the game. He played professionally for Everton, the

New Bedford Whalers New Bedford Whalers was the name of three American soccer teams based in New Bedford, Massachusetts. The first Whalers played in the Southern New England Soccer League between 1914 and 1918. The second Whalers played in the American Soccer League ...

and Montreal Carsteel. He also earned eight

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Ja ...

with the England national team.

Biography

Club career

Born 27 January 1889 in

Ellesmere Port Ellesmere Port ( ) is a port town in the Cheshire West and Chester borough in Cheshire, England. Ellesmere Port is on the south eastern edge of the Wirral Peninsula, north of Chester, south of Birkenhead, southwest of Runcorn and south of ...

, England, Chedgzoy began his professional career with Everton F.C. in 1910, joining the club from amateur side Burnell's Ironworks. He spent sixteen seasons with the Blues, predominantly was a right wing forward. Everton were runners up in the then top division, Division 1, in the 1911–12 season; and won the championship 1914–15. In total, Chedgzoy made 300 appearances (279 in the league) for Everton. He scored thirty-six goals, with thirty-three coming in league games. Chedgzoy also guested for West Ham United during World War One, making 28 appearances and scoring 14 goals.

American Soccer League

In 1926, Chedgzoy emigrated to the United States where he signed with

of the American Soccer League.

Canada

Chedgzoy gained his first taste of Canada while vacationing there in 1922. In 1924, he spent the English League off season as manager of

The Canadian Grenadier Guards ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

, a Canadian armed forces team which competed in the Interprovincial League. When he left the Whalers in 1930, Len Peto, owner of Montreal Carsteel hired Chedgzoy as the team's player-coach in the National Soccer League. In his ten years with the club, he took them to seven league finals, losing the first four before winning the 1936, 1939 and 1940 titles. He made his final appearance as a player for Carsteel in the Canadian Club Final in 1939 at the age of fifty. He remained in Montreal until his death on 7 January 1967. Chedgzoy was inducted into the

Canadian Soccer Hall of Fame The Canada Soccer Hall of Fame honours people and institutions for their contributions to Canadian soccer. It was founded in 1997 by the Ontario Soccer Association and was originally located in Vaughan, Ontario. As of 2019, the Canada Soccer Ha ...

in 2005.

National team

Chedgzoy earned his first cap with England in a 2–1 loss to

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 ...

on 15 March 1920. He went on play a total of eight games with England, his last a 3–1 victory over

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

on 22 October 1924.

Changing the laws of the game

In 1926, he forced a change in the laws of the game when he almost scored by dribbling the ball in from a corner kick. Contrary to popular belief, he hit the side netting and did not score. Prior to 1924 a goal could ''only'' be scored from a

corner kick A corner kick is the method of restarting play in a game of association football when the ball goes out of play over the goal line, without a goal being scored and having last been touched by a member of the defending team. The kick is take ...

if another player made contact with the ball. In that year, the

International Football Association Board The International Football Association Board (IFAB) is the body that determines the Laws of the Game of association football. IFAB was founded in 1886 to agree standardised Laws for international competition, and has since acted as the "guardia ...

(IFAB) changed the laws of football so that a goal could be scored directly from a corner kick (without another player touching the ball). However, the wording of the new law was vague. A ''

Liverpool Echo The ''Liverpool Echo'' is a newspaper published by Trinity Mirror North West & North Wales – a subsidiary company of Reach plc and is based in St Paul's Square, Liverpool, Merseyside, England. It is published Monday to Sunday, and is Liver ...

'' sports journalist, Ernest Edwards, informed the Everton side of the lack of precision in the new rules. During a game against Woolwich Arsenal, Everton gained a corner kick that Chedgzoy took. Instead of crossing the ball in, he dribbled the ball into the

penalty area The penalty area or 18-yard box (also known less formally as the penalty box or simply box) is an area of an association football pitch. It is rectangular and extends 16.5m (18 yd) to each side of the goal and 16.5m (18 yd) in front of it. With ...

and nearly scored while the other players and referee looked on in shock – and then he successfully persuaded the referee that the rules permitted this way of scoring a goal. After deliberation by

the Football Association The Football Association (also known as The FA) is the governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the oldest football association in the world a ...

, it was decided that the goal was legal, and the law was amended making it clear that the player taking the corner could only strike the ball before another player must make contact. This ensures that corner kicks cannot become corner dribbles, but also permits a goal to be scored direct from a corner.

Personal life

His son, Sydney (1911–1983), was also a footballer who played for various clubs in the 1930s. Chedgzoy served as a private in the

Scots Guards The Scots Guards (SG) is one of the five Foot Guards regiments of the British Army. Its origins are as the personal bodyguard of King Charles I of England and Scotland. Its lineage can be traced back to 1642, although it was only placed on the E ...

during 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 ...

References

External links

Page on Chedgzoy from Everton F.C.'s web site
* / Canada Soccer Hall of Fame
"Cornered", another account from (Canada's) The Soccer Hall of Fame and Museum

"Eleven New Members Inducted into the Ontario Soccer Association Hall of Fame", ''Lower Island Soccer News'', 9 May 2005

Canada Soccer Hall of Fame profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chedgzoy, Sam 1889 births 1967 deaths People from Ellesmere Port English footballers Association football wingers English Football League players England international footballers Everton F.C. players Cardiff City F.C. wartime guest players English expatriate footballers English expatriate sportspeople in the United States English emigrants to Canada American Soccer League (1921–1933) players Expatriate soccer players in Canada Expatriate soccer players in the United States Montreal Carsteel players New Bedford Whalers players English football managers Canada Soccer Hall of Fame inductees English Football League representative players Sportspeople from Cheshire British Army personnel of World War I Scots Guards soldiers English expatriate sportspeople in Canada Canadian National Soccer League players Canadian National Soccer League coaches