Warney Cresswell

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Warney Cresswell
Personal information
Full name Warneford Cresswell
Date of birth 5 November 1897(1897-11-05)
Place of birth    South Shields, Tyne and Wear, England
Date of death    20 October 1973 (aged 75)
Playing position Full back
Senior clubs1
Years Club App (Gls)*



1919–1922
1922–1927
1927–1936		 Morton
Heart of Midlothian
Hibernian
South Shields
Sunderland
Everton


099 (0)
182 (0)
290 (1)   
National team
1921–1929 England 007 (0)
Teams managed
1936–1937
1937–1939		 Port Vale
Northampton Town

1 Senior club appearances and goals
counted for the domestic league only.
* Appearances (Goals)

Warneford Cresswell (5 November 1897 – 20 October 1973), known as Warney, was an English professional footballer, who helped Everton win the Football League championship twice and the FA Cup. His ability and talents earned him the sobriquet "The Prince of Full Backs" and win seven caps for England.

Contents

[edit] Career

Cresswell was born in South Shields, Tyne and Wear (then in County Durham). He represented South Shields Schools and England Schools as a youngster, as well as playing junior football locally, although the outbreak of the First World War prevented him playing professional football in England, where football was suspended. This was not the case in Scotland, however, where the Scottish Football League continued throughout the hostilities, so the teenage Cressswell moved north of the border to play for Morton, Heart of Midlothian and Hibernian.[1]

He later enlisted in the army, and was captured and held in a prisoner-of-war camp[1] before being repatriated at the end of the war.

In the summer of 1919 he signed for South Shields, then playing in the Football League Second Division.

Cresswell was capped for England seven times. His first match was against Wales on 14 March 1921 and his last was against Ireland on 19 October 1929. His first appearance was whilst still at South Shields, thus making him South Shield's only England international.

He moved to Sunderland in 1922 for a then-world record fee of £5,500.[2] The record was not broken again for three years. He made 190 appearances for the club.

Cresswell played in the right back position. He was a renowned tackler and famed for his cool demeanour, fine tackling and masterful positional play. Warney became hugely popular with fans wherever he played, establishing a reputation as a 'gentleman', both on and off the pitch. One player recounted how his leg was broken following a collision with Cresswell, who appeared later at the hospital with a pouch of smoking tobacco[1], which at the time was probably considered more manly than flowers or a bag of grapes.

He moved to Everton in 1927 for £7,000, at the age of 30, where he played alongside goal machine Dixie Dean. He left Everton when he was 38 having made 306 appearances for the club.

He then went on to manage Port Vale (1936-37) and Northampton Town (1937-39).

Later, he returned to manage a pub in the Sunderland area.

He was known throughout the game as "The Prince of Full Backs"

[edit] Honours

Sunderland
Everton

[edit] Quotes

  • "Good goalkeepers never make great saves."[3]

[edit] Trivia

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Graham Betts (2006). England: Player by player. Green Umbrella Publishing, p.80. ISBN 1-905009-63-1. 
  2. ^ Sunderland Football Club Greatest 100 web page, A-Love-Supreme Fanzine web site, retrieved on December 17, 2006.
  3. ^ Warney Cresswell quote page, Said What? web site, retrieved on December 17, 2006.

[edit] External links

v • d • e
Port Vale F.C. – Managers

Gleaves (1896–05) • Clare (1905–11) • Walker (1911–12) • Myatt (1912–14) • Holford (1919–24) • Schofield (1924–30) • Morgan (1930–32) • Holford (1932–35) • Cresswell (1936–37) • Morgan (1937–38) • Frith (1945–46) • Hodgson (1946–51) • Powell (1951) • Steele (1951–57) • Low (1957–62) • Steele (1962–65) • Mudie (1965–67) • Matthews (1967–68) • Lee (1968–74) • Sproson (1974–77) • Harper (1977) • Smith (1977–78) • Butler (1978–79) • Bloor (1979) • McGrath (1979–83) • Rudge (1984–99) • Dearden (1999) • Grew (1999) • Horton (1999–2004) • Foyle (2004–07) • Glover (2007) • Sinnott (2007–)
v • d • e
Northampton Town F.C. – Managers

Jones (1897–1907) • Chapman (1907–12) • Bull (1912–13) • Lessons (1913–19) • Hewison (1920–25) • Tresadern (1925–30) • English (1931–35) • Puddefoot (1935–37) • Cresswell (1937–39) • Smith (1939–49) • Dennison (1949–54) • Smith (1954–59) • Bowen (1959–67) • Marchi (1967–68) • Flowers (1968–69) • Bowen (1969–72) • Baxter (1972–73) • Dodgin, Jr. (1973–76) • Crerand (1976–77) • Petts (1977–78) • Dodgin, Jr. (1977) • Bowen (1978) • Keen (1978–79) • Walker (1979–80) • Dodgin, Jr. (1980–82) • Walker (1982–84) • Barton (1984–85) • Carr (1985–90) • Foley (1990–92) • Chard (1992–93) • Barnwell (1993–94) • Atkins (1995–99) • Broadhurst (1999) • Wilson (1999–2001) • Broadhurst (2001–03) • Fenwick (2003) • Wilkinson (2003) • Hill (2003) • Calderwood (2003–06) • Gorman (2006) • Barron and Sampson (2006–07) • Gray (2007–)