| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | William Herbert Coggins | ||
| Date of birth | 16 September 1901 | ||
| Place of birth | Bristol, England | ||
| Date of death | 1958 | ||
| Place of death | Backwell,Somerset, | ||
| Playing position | Goalkeeper | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Victoria Albion | |||
| Bristol St George | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 1925–1930 | Bristol City | 171 | (0) |
| 1930–1935 | Everton | 56 | (0) |
| 1935–1936 | Queens Park Rangers | 6 | (0) |
| Bath City | |||
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals). |
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William Herbert "Billy" Coggins (16 September 1901–1958) was an English footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He played for Everton in the 1931 FA Cup semi-final.
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Coggins was born in Bristol and after playing local football, he joined Bristol City in September 1925, then playing in the Football League Third Division South. He was an ever-present member of the City side that won the division title in 1926–27, thus gaining promotion to the Second Division. He spent a further three seasons at Ashton Gate before joining Everton in March 1930.
Coggins took over in goal from Ted Sagar for the rest of the season, but was unable to prevent Everton being relegated from the First Division for the first time in the club's history.
Coggins retained his place for the 1930–31 season as, fired by Dixie Dean's goals, Everton took the title by a margin of seven points over West Bromwich Albion. Over Easter 1931, Everton played Coggins' former team, Bristol City twice. For the first match at Ashton Gate, Coggins was appointed captain, leading his side to a 1–0 victory, with the goal coming from Jimmy Stein,[1] but City won the return match at Goodison Park 3–1.[2][3]
Coggins also featured in Everton's run to the 1931 FA Cup Semi-final which was played at Old Trafford against West Bromwich Albion on 14 March 1931. Everton dominated the first half but were unable to score from any of the chances they created, and it was Albion who broke the deadlock ten minutes into the second half. Albion captain Tommy Glidden played the ball into the Everton penalty area from near the halfway line, and aided by a gust of wind it sailed past Coggins and into the net to put Albion into the final.
Following Everton's return to the top flight, Ted Sagar reclaimed the goalkeeper's jersey, and Coggins only made three further appearances, his final first-team game coming on 10 February 1934.
Coggins had a trial at Queens Park Rangers in the 1935–36 season, when he made six league appearances, before playing out his career back in the west country with Bath City in the Southern League.