Samuel Francis Raybould (11 June 1875 – 1949) was an English professional

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 ...

. He played as a striker and is most renowned for his days playing 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 ...

Life and playing career

Raybould was born in Staveley, Derbyshire and played for Poolsbrook United, Staveley Colliery and North Staveley before joining Chesterfield Town on trial. His trial wasn't successful, and he moved to Ilkeston Town from where he joined

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group. Founded in 188 ...

in 1894. Despite scoring twice in five games for Derby, Raybould returned to non-league football with Ilkeston Town, subsequently playing for Poolsbrook United, Ilkeston Town (for a third spell) and Bolsover Colliery before joining

New Brighton Tower New Brighton Tower was a steel lattice observation tower at New Brighton in the town of Wallasey, Cheshire (now in the Borough of Wirral, in Merseyside), England. It stood high, and was the tallest building in Great Britain when it opened ...

in 1899. He scored ten times in just 13 league games for New Brighton Tower and was signed by manager Tom Watson for

in January 1900. He made his debut on 13 January 1900 in a 2–0 win over W.B.A at

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 ...

and scored his first goal for the club a week later on 20 January in the

Merseyside derby The Merseyside derby is the association football, football matches between Everton F.C., Everton and Liverpool F.C., Liverpool, the two primary clubs in Liverpool, England. Named after the county of Merseyside, in which Liverpool is located, it ...

Goodison Park Goodison Park is a association football, football stadium in the Walton, Liverpool, Walton area of Liverpool, England. It has been the home stadium of Premier League club Everton F.C. since its completion in 1892. Located in a residential area ...

a game which saw Everton win 3–1. Originally an

outside right Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

, he switched to centre forward at Liverpool and became a highly successful goalscorer. In the

1902–03 Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number), the natural number following 18 and preceding 20 * one of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (film), a 1987 science fiction film Music ...

season Raybould set a new record of 31 league goals in a single league season. This record stood until 1931 when

Gordon Hodgson Gordon Hodgson (16 April 1904 – 14 June 1951) was a professional sportsman, born in Transvaal Colony, who is best known as a striker for Liverpool and as a fast bowler for Lancashire. He won two international caps for South Africa and three ...

broke it by scoring 36 goals. In 1903 he, along with John Glover and

William Goldie William Glover Goldie (22 January 1878 – 3 February 1952) was a footballer who played for Liverpool in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, helping them to a Football League Championship. Life and playing career Born in Hurlford, Ayrshire, ...

were given a seven-month ban from football for agreeing to 'financial inducements' to sign for Southern League

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

. Portsmouth tried to use lack of regulations of transfers between the leagues to their advantage, but their approach was judged illegal. Raybould was suspended for seven months for agreeing to sign for Pompey. He was also given a lifetime ban on ever signing for the south-coast side. Without Raybould Liverpool slumped from fifth place to relegation candidates. His ban lasted until 31 December 1903 but was selected for the first team straight away in January. Raybould scored four goals from 15 games but could not prevent the reds dropping into 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 ...

. However, he helped Liverpool to the second division title, contributing 19 goals and went on to score a total of 130 goals in 226 appearances for Liverpool, and remained their record goalscorer for 37 years. As of 2022, he stands as the eleventh highest goalscorer in Liverpool's history, ninth by his league goals. His record of scoring 67 goals in his first 100 games for Liverpool stood until 2020 when he was overtaken by

Mohamed Salah Mohamed Salah Hamed Mahrous Ghaly ( ar, محمد صلاح حامد محروس غالي, ; born 15 June 1992), also known as Mo Salah, is an Egyptian professional footballer who plays as a forward for club Liverpool and captains the Egypt ...

. After leaving Liverpool in 1907, Raybould moved first to Sunderland where he scored 12 goals in 28 appearances in his solitary season there. He ended his league career at Woolwich Arsenal. He made his Arsenal debut against Everton on 2 September 1908 and played 30 times for Arsenal that season, scoring seven goals. He left league football in 1909, joining non-league Chesterfield and subsequently playing for Sutton Town and Barlborough United. Raybould never gained international recognition but was selected 3 times to represent the Football League against the

Scottish League The Scottish Football League (SFL) was a league featuring professional and semi-professional football clubs mostly from Scotland.One club, Berwick Rangers, is based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, which is located approximately 4 km sout ...

Personal life

Raybould married Selima Wilkes on 24 December 1897, when he described himself as a miner. Raybould died in 1949.

Career statistics

Goals and Appearances by club, season and competition.

References

External links

Player profile at Liverpoolfc.tv

Player profile at LFChistory.net
{{DEFAULTSORT:Raybould, Sam 1875 births 1949 deaths People from Staveley, Derbyshire Footballers from Derbyshire English men's footballers Ilkeston Town F.C. (1880s) players Derby County F.C. players Bolsover Colliery F.C. players New Brighton Tower F.C. players Liverpool F.C. players Sunderland A.F.C. players Arsenal F.C. players Chesterfield F.C. players Ashfield United F.C. players English Football League players First Division/Premier League top scorers English Football League representative players Men's association football forwards