Fred Griffiths (footballer)

Frederick John Griffiths (13 September 1873 – 30 October 1917) was a Welsh association football player of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. A goalkeeper, he won two caps for the Welsh national team. He was killed in action during the First World War.

Fred Griffiths
Personal information
Full name Frederick John Griffiths
Date of birth (1873-09-13)13 September 1873
Place of birth Presteigne, Wales
Date of death 30 October 1917(1917-10-30) (aged 44)
Place of death Passchendaele salient, Belgium
Height 6 ft 2 in (188 cm)[1]
Playing position(s) Goalkeeper
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1894–1896 South Shore
1896–1897 Clitheroe
1897–1899 South Shore
1899–1900 Blackpool
1900 Stalybridge Rovers
1900–1901 Millwall Athletic 34 (0)
1901–1902 Tottenham Hotspur 9 (0)
1902 Preston North End 10 (0)
1902–1904 West Ham United 49 (0)
1904–1906 New Brompton 52 (0)
1906–???? Middlesbrough 0 (0)
– Moore's Athletic
National team
1900 Wales 2 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Career

Born in Presteigne, the son of a coal merchant, Griffiths played junior football in Wales before beginning his senior career with the Blackpool-based club South Shore in 1895.[1] He went on to play for other Lancashire-based clubs Clitheroe, Blackpool and Stalybridge Rovers.[2] On 3 February 1900, while on the books of Blackpool, he made his debut for Wales in an international match against Scotland at Aberdeen and later in the year played against England,[3] making him the first Blackpool player to win an international cap.[4] He also played in the Seasiders' first ever match at Bloomfield Road.[5]

He later moved south to join Millwall Athletic before moving across London to join Tottenham Hotspur, then playing in the Southern Football League.[2]

In 1901 Griffiths returned to Lancashire to join Preston North End of The Football League. He made ten league appearances for the club before once more returning to London to play for West Ham United in 1902. He replaced William Biggar in goal after Biggar conceded five goals in a defeat to Wellingborough Town, and remained the club's first-choice goalkeeper for two seasons.[4] In the summer of 1904 he joined New Brompton, where he spent two seasons, making over 50 first team appearances and serving as club captain.[3][6] He next joined Middlesbrough but never played for the club's first team, before a final move to minor club Moore's Athletic of Shirebrook, where he also worked as a coalminer.[2][4]

Post-playing career

After retiring from playing, Griffiths worked as a coal miner in the Midlands and trained local teams in Shirebrook before joining the British Army during World War I.[7] He served with the 15th Battalion, Sherwood Foresters (Notts and Derby Regiment), reaching the rank of serjeant. The unit had originally been raised as a bantam battalion in Nottingham in 1915. By 1917 the battalion was part of 35th Division which was thrown into the Battle of Passchendaele in October 1917. Griffiths was killed in action on 30 October 1917, along with four others of his battalion (another 15 were wounded that day). He is buried at the Dozinghem Military Cemetery in West Flanders, Belgium.[4][8][9][10]

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References
  1. Hogg, Tony (2005). Who's Who of West Ham United. Profile Sports Media. pp. 92–93. ISBN 1-903135-50-8.
  2. Joyce, Michael (2004). Football League Players' Records 1888–1939. Soccerdata. p. 108. ISBN 1-899468-67-6.
  3. Triggs, Roger (1984). Gillingham Football Club: A Chronology 1893–1984. Kent County Libraries. p. 8.
  4. "West Ham United: Fred Griffiths". Spartacus Educational. Retrieved 2 September 2009.
  5. Gillatt, Peter (30 November 2009). Blackpool FC on This Day: History, Facts and Figures from Every Day of the Year. Brighton: Pitch Publishing Ltd. p. 28. ISBN 1-905411-50-2.
  6. Brown, Tony (2003). The Definitive Gillingham F.C.: A Complete Record. Soccerdata. p. 128. ISBN 1-899468-20-X.
  7. Kahn, Nigel. "Remembrance day: Frederick Griffiths". theyflysohigh.co.uk. Retrieved 11 November 2018.
  8. "Casualty Details: Griffiths FJ". Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Retrieved 11 November 2018.
  9. Baker, Chris. "The 15th Sherwood Foresters". The Long, Long Trail. Retrieved 2 September 2009.
  10. Baker, Chris. "The Sherwood Foresters (Nottinghamshire & Derbyshire Regiment)". The Long, Long Trail. Retrieved 2 September 2009.
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