Ernest Arthur Watts (11 April 1872 – 1956) 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 lea ...

of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Born in Woolhampton in

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; abbreviated ), officially the Royal County of Berkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Oxfordshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the north-east, Greater London ...

, his earliest known club was

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...

, before he moved to

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football, football club in Nottingham, England, which competes in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of Football in England, English football, following promotion and relegation, promotion ...

, where he made 17 appearances in

The Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in the world, and was the top-level football league in England from ...

. He had a second spell with

and also played for

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Stratford, London, Stratford, East London, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English f ...

, where he was

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

for the club's final season at the

Memorial Grounds Memorial Grounds was an outdoor stadium in West Ham that served as the home of Thames Ironworks F.C. from the beginning of the 1897–98 Thames Ironworks F.C. season, 1897–98 season, until the end of the 1899–1900 Thames Ironworks F.C. seaso ...

, before joining New Brompton in 1904, where he was a regular starter during the

1904–05 Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number) * One of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (1987 film), a 1987 science fiction film * '' 19-Nineteen'', a 2009 South Korean film * '' D ...

season. His later clubs included

Grays Athletic Grays Athletic Football Club is a football club based in Grays, Essex, England. They are currently members of the and play at Chadfields in nearby Tilbury. History The club was established as Grays Juniors in 1890, before merging with former ...

and Clapton Orient, as well as two more spells with

. Watts was a soldier and played for the Royal Berkshire Regiment Cricket XI, as well as playing

minor counties cricket The National Counties, known as the Minor Counties before 2020, are the cricketing counties of England and Wales that do not have first-class status. The game is administered by the National Counties Cricket Association (NCCA), which comes unde ...

for

from 1896 to 1908, making 85 appearances in the

Minor Counties Championship The NCCA 3 Day Championship or National County Championship is a season-long competition in England and Wales that is contested by the members of the National Counties Cricket Association (NCCA), the so-called national counties (previously ca ...

References

1872 births 1956 deaths People from West Berkshire District English men's footballers Gillingham F.C. players Reading F.C. players Notts County F.C. players West Ham United F.C. players Grays Athletic F.C. players Leyton Orient F.C. players Place of death missing Men's association football midfielders Men's association football goalkeepers English cricketers Berkshire cricketers Footballers from Berkshire {{England-footy-goalkeeper-stub