| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Bert Frederick Williams MBE | ||
| Date of birth | 31 January 1920 | ||
| Place of birth | Bradley, Staffordshire, England | ||
| Height | 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) | ||
| Playing position | Goalkeeper | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Bilston | |||
| Thompson's FC | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 1937–1945 | Walsall | 25 | (0) |
| 1945–1959 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 381 | (0) |
| National team | |||
| 1949–1955 | England | 30 | (0) |
| 1949 | England B | 1 | (0) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals). |
|||
Bert Frederick Williams MBE (born 31 January 1920) is a former English international football goalkeeper. Nicknamed The Cat, he spent the majority of his playing career at Wolverhampton Wanderers where he won the League Championship and FA Cup.
Contents |
Williams started playing competitive football as a young man when he was a member of the 19th Wolverhampton Company of The Boys' Brigade (Bradley Methodist Church). He was then offered the chance to play for Walsall's reserves, whilst playing for Thompson's FC, the works team of the local factory he was employed at. He was taken on permanently and turned professional in April 1937.[1] He made his league debut for the Division 3 club on 16 October 1937 against Bristol City.
The outbreak of World War II halted his progress, after two seasons of playing, as he joined the RAF and also acted as a Physical Training instructor. He found time in between his duties to turn out as a guest for both Nottingham Forest and Chelsea in friendlies.[2]
With the conflict over, Williams resumed his career by signing for First Division Wolverhampton Wanderers in September 1945 for £3,500. He immediately became first choice at the Molineux club, making his official debut when league football resumed on 31 August 1946 in a 6-1 win over Arsenal, a game the was also the Wolves début of Johnny Hancocks.[3]
He gained his first honour in 1949 as the team lifted the FA Cup after defeating Leicester City. His part in winning this prize saw him rewarded with an England call-up later that month, as he made his international debut on 22 May 1949 in a 3-1 friendly win in France. He held onto the goalkeeper's jersey through the 1950 FIFA World Cup, and at that tournament played in England's surprise defeat to the USA.[4] However, he got injured in November 1951 and Gil Merrick established himself in the meantime, and he did not get another chance until December 1954.
Although his international career stalled, he won the league title with Wolves in 1953–54, the club's first championship. He played on for three more seasons after this triumph as the club made a string of top 6 finishes, before retiring in May 1957. In total, he made 420 appearances for the Midlanders.
After ending his football career, he later ran a sports shop in Bilston and a sporting centre. As of 2011 he lives near Shifnal in Shropshire.[5]
Williams is the oldest living English international to have played in a World Cup.
Williams was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2010 Birthday Honours for services to football and to charity.[6]
|
|
|||||||