Ralph Shields
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Ralph Shields | ||
| Date of birth | 1892 | ||
| Place of birth | Newbiggin, Lanchester, County Durham, England | ||
| Date of death | 21 November 1944 | ||
| Playing position | Forward | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 1913-1914 | Newcastle United | 0 | (0) |
| 1914-1920 | Huddersfield Town | 45 | (21) |
| 1920-1921 | Exeter City | 19 | (4) |
| 1921-1922 | Brentford | 8 | (1) |
| 1922-1926 | Sittingbourne | ||
| 1926-1927 | Blyth Spartans | ||
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals). | |||
Ralph Shields (born 1892 in Newbiggin, County Durham) was a professional footballer, who played for Newcastle United, Huddersfield Town, Exeter City and Brentford.
Football Career As a young man, Ralph was a miner but he played for his local junior club Newbiggin Athletic, in the Wansbeck League. In 1913 he was playing for Choppington Alliance when he was spotted by Newcastle United and was transferred to them for a fee of £40 on 30 October 1913. Ralph never played for the first eleven at Newcastle United, when in May 1914 Huddersfield Town paid a £100 fee for his signature. The following season, 1914-1915, Ralph was Huddersfield Town leading goal scorer with 16 goals in 28 appearances.[1] As with many footballers during World War I, he signed up to serve and he did so with the Royal Field Artillery. The season after World War I, 1919-1920, he was part of the Huddersfield Town side which gained promotion from Division 2 of the Football League appearing 13 times and scoring 3 goals.[2] In November 1920, Ralph was transferred to Exeter City and played in 19 matches, scoring 4 goals, for the rest of the 1920-1921 season. During August 1921, he was transferred to Brentford to play in the 1921-1922 season, appearing in 8 matches and scoring just the 1 goal. This was to be his last season in the Football League. He then appeared for Sittingbourne in the Kent League for a few seasons before moving back to the North East to play for Blyth Spartans in the North Eastern League.
Personal Life In October 1927, Ralph and his family emigrated to Australia to build a new life. During his service with the Australian Army Service Corps in Malaya, he was captured by the Imperial Japanese Army and transferred to the Sandakan Prisoner of War Camp in North Borneo and interred as a POW. He died on 21 November 1944 and is buried at the Labuan War Cemetery[3] in Malaysia.
References
- 99 Years & Counting - Stats & Stories - Huddersfield Town History