Billy Spurdle

William Spurdle (28 January 1926 – 20 June 2011) was a Guernsey-born footballer who played as a wing half. He scored 63 goals in 381 league appearances in a 16-year professional career in the Football League.[2]

Billy Spurdle

Personal information
Full name	William Spurdle[1]
Date of birth	(1926-01-28)28 January 1926[1]
Place of birth	Saint Peter Port, Guernsey, Channel Islands[1]
Date of death	20 June 2011(2011-06-20) (aged 85)
Place of death	Guernsey, Channel Islands
Playing position(s)	Wing half / Winger
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1948–1950	Oldham Athletic	56	(5)
1950–1956	Manchester City	160	(32)
1956–1957	Port Vale	21	(7)
1957–1963	Oldham Athletic	144	(19)
Total		381	(63)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

He started his career with Oldham Athletic in 1947, before making a £12,000 move to Manchester City two years later. He helped the club to win promotion out of the Second Division in the 1950–51 campaign, and went on to feature in the 1955 FA Cup Final defeat to Newcastle United. He was sold to Port Vale in November 1956 for a £4,000 fee, before returning to Oldham at the end of the season for a £1,000 fee. He helped the "Latics" to win promotion out of the Fourth Division in 1962–63, his final season as a professional player.

Playing career

Spurdle began his career at Oldham Athletic in March 1948, having moved to Oldham from his native Guernsey during World War II to escape Nazi Germany's occupation of the Channel Islands.[3] He served in the Royal Navy during the war.[4] He scored five goals in 56 Third Division North appearances as Billy Wootton's "Latics" posted 11th and sixth-place finishes in the 1947–48 and 1948–49 campaigns.

Spurdle then joined Jock Thomson's Manchester City for a £12,000 fee in January 1950, but could not prevent the club from suffering relegation out of the First Division in 1949–50.[4] Les McDowall was then put in charge at Maine Road, and led the club to an immediate promotion with a second-place finish in the Second Division in 1950–51. After Spurdle helped the "Citizens" to a 15th-place finish in 1951–52, he finished as the club's joint top-scorer (with Johnny Williamson) in the 1952–53 season with 12 goals. City struggled in the lower half of the table in the 1953–54 campaign, before exploiting the "Revie plan" to push on to a seventh-place finish in 1954–55. They also improved their FA Cup form, and reached the 1955 FA Cup Final at Wembley, where they were beaten 3–1 by Newcastle United; Spurdle was forced to spend most of the game playing at right-back after an injury to Jimmy Meadows left them with only ten players.[4] The "Sky Blues" improved further in the 1955–56 season, finishing fourth and reaching the FA Cup final for a second consecutive year. Spurdle was unable to play in the 1956 FA Cup Final due to a severe outbreak of boils on his arm; Revie took his number 7 shirt and helped City to beat Birmingham City 3–1 in his absence.[4]

"In 1955, I didn’t play in any of the rounds but played in the final – 12 months later, I played in all the rounds but missed the final."

— Spurdle remained philosophical after missing out on an FA Cup winner's medal.[4]

He was bought by Second Division Port Vale in November 1956 for a £4,000 fee.[1] He scored on his debut in a 3–2 win over Bury at Vale Park, and two weeks later he scored a brace in a 4–2 win over Doncaster Rovers.[1] This temporarily took them away from relegation worries before a streak of seven games without victory.[1] He finished the 1956–57 season with seven goals in 23 games, though this was not enough to turn around Vale's season or to save manager Freddie Steele's job, as the "Valiants" were relegated with Norman Low at the helm.[1]

In the summer of 1957, Spurdle was sold back to Oldham Athletic for £1,000, who were still competing in the Third Division North.[3] They finished 15th in 1957–58, one point below the Third Division threshold, and as a result Ted Goodier was replaced as manager by Norman Dodgin. Oldham declined further and finished 21st in 1958–59, the inaugural season of the Fourth Division, and were forced to apply for re-election. A 23rd-place finish in 1959–60 again meant that they had to convince their peers to keep them in the Football League. Under the stewardship of new boss Jack Rowley, they rose to 12th place in 1960–61, before posting an 11th-place finish in 1961–62. In Spurdle's final season at Boundary Park, 1962–63, Oldham won promotion as the division's runners-up. He remained at the club as a coach, before he returned to the Channel Islands in 1967.[5] He turned down the chance to become the club's manager.[6]

Post-retirement

After entering the business world in Oldham, Spurdle took his family back to his native Guernsey to start up a tomato growing business. He remained active in football, coaching the local island team.[3] He died in June 2011, aged 85, leaving behind two sons, John and Roger, and a daughter, Kay.[4]

Statistics

Source:[7]

Club	Season	Division	League		FA Cup		Other		Total
			Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Oldham Athletic	1947–48	Third Division North	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
	1948–49	Third Division North	35	2	3	0	0	0	38	2
	1949–50	Third Division North	20	3	5	3	0	0	25	6
	Total		56	5	8	3	0	0	64	8
Manchester City	1949–50	First Division	13	0	0	0	0	0	13	0
	1950–51	Second Division	31	4	1	0	0	0	32	4
	1951–52	First Division	9	0	2	0	0	0	11	0
	1952–53	First Division	27	11	2	1	0	0	29	12
	1953–54	First Division	24	2	0	0	0	0	24	2
	1954–55	First Division	16	6	1	0	0	0	17	6
	1955–56	First Division	35	9	6	0	0	0	41	6
	1956–57	First Division	5	0	0	0	0	0	5	0
	Total		160	32	12	1	0	0	172	33
Port Vale	1956–57	Second Division	21	7	2	0	0	0	23	7
Oldham Athletic	1957–58	Third Division North	35	13	1	0	0	0	36	13
	1958–59	Fourth Division	26	1	1	0	0	0	27	1
	1959–60	Fourth Division	36	3	3	1	0	0	39	4
	1960–61	Fourth Division	28	1	2	0	2	0	32	1
	1961–62	Fourth Division	15	1	3	0	2	0	20	1
	1962–63	Fourth Division	4	0	0	0	0	0	4	0
	Total		144	19	10	1	4	0	158	20
Career total			381	63	32	5	4	0	417	68

Honours

Manchester City

• Football League Second Division runner-up: 1950–51
• FA Cup runner-up: 1955

Oldham Athletic

• Football League Fourth Division runner-up: 1962–63

References

1. Kent, Jeff (1996). Port Vale Personalities. Witan Books. p. 278. ISBN 0-9529152-0-0.
2. "stats". neilbrown.newcastlefans.com. Retrieved 16 October 2012.
3. "Where Are They Now? (K-Z)". Retrieved 4 April 2009.
4. "Manchester City cup final ace Bill Spurdle dies aged 85". 20 June 2011. Retrieved 20 June 2011.
5. "Spurdle dies at 85". football.co.uk. Retrieved 16 October 2012.
6. "Tribute to Latics wing-half Spurdle". Oldham Evening Chronicle. 21 June 2011. Retrieved 16 October 2012.
7. Billy Spurdle at the English National Football Archive (subscription required)