Bill Barraclough Explained

Bill Barraclough
Fullname:William Barraclough[1]
Birth Date:1909 1, df=y
Birth Place:Hull, England
Death Date:[2]
Death Place:Hull, England
Position:Outside left
Clubs1:Bridlington Town
Years2:1925–1928
Clubs2:Hull City
Caps2:9
Goals2:0
Years3:1928–1934
Caps3:172
Goals3:18
Years4:1934–1937
Clubs4:Chelsea
Caps4:74
Goals4:8
Years5:1937–1938
Clubs5:Colchester United
Caps5:19
Goals5:2
Clubs6:Doncaster Rovers
Clubs7:Peterborough United
Years8:1940–1941
Clubs8:Hull City (guest)
Totalcaps:274
Totalgoals:28

William Barraclough (3 January 1909 – 6 August 1969) was an English footballer who played as an outside left in the Football League for Hull City, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Chelsea and Doncaster Rovers. He also represented Colchester United in their first-ever season and Peterborough United.

Career

Born in Hull, Barraclough began his career at Bridlington Town before signing for hometown club Hull City at the age of 16. He made nine Football League appearances while at Boothferry Park, and he had done enough to convince Wolverhampton Wanderers to sign him in 1928.[2]

Barraclough made his Wolves debut on 15 December 1928 in a 3–2 win against Clapham Orient but could only manage three appearances during the 1928–29 season. However, he was a virtual ever-present when Wolves won the Second Division championship in the 1931–32 season, scoring seven times. The wide-man remained a first choice player as the club consolidated in the top flight over the next two seasons before leaving to join Chelsea in October 1934.[3]

Following his Chelsea debut on 3 November 1934, Barraclough became an unpopular figure with the West London faithful, with his intricate ball skills occasionally being displayed at the cost of directness, often finding himself being barracked by some members of the crowd. Despite this, he made 74 league appearances in two and a half years at Stamford Bridge, scoring eight times, additionally notching three goals in seven FA Cup outings.[2]

With a £2,500 price tag, Barraclough moved to newly formed Southern League club Colchester United for their inaugural season in 1937, making his debut in a 0–0 draw with Yeovil & Petters United on 11 September 1937 at Layer Road.[4] However, Barraclough will go down in history as the first-ever Colchester player to be sent off when he received his marching orders on 25 November 1937 in a 2–1 defeat to Norwich City Reserves for persistently questioning the referee. United manager Ted Davis said of the incident that "Barraclough suffered a grave injustice in being ordered off for what was a trivial offence." Such was the gravity of the situation that the Football Association saw fit to warn Barraclough as to his future conduct. He made 19 league appearances and scored two goals for Colchester before being released by Davis at the end of the season.[2]

After his release from Colchester, Barraclough joined Doncaster Rovers for a then-record £500 fee, a sum that went to Chelsea as they still held his league registration. He was involved in further misdemeanours at Doncaster in a game against Scunthorpe United, but the FA took no further action owing to his improvement in character. He later played for Peterborough United and made a return to Hull City during the war years as a guest player during the 1940–41 season, scoring two goals in 19 games.[2]

Later life

During the war, Barraclough was based in both Hull and Colchester, serving with the RADC in the latter. He returned to Hull to work as a clerk at the Port of Hull and later worked as a fruit merchant before his death on 6 August 1969.[2]

Honours

Wolverhampton Wanderers

All honours referenced by:[5]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Colchester United – Player profile . https://archive.today/20130827201745/http://coludata.co.uk/player.asp?pid=12 . dead . 27 August 2013 . Coludata.co.uk . 27 August 2013 .
  2. Book: Whitehead . Jeff . Drury . Kevin . The Who's Who of Colchester United: The Layer Road Years . 2008 . Breedon Books . Derby . 978-1-85983-629-3 . 23.
  3. Book: Matthews . Tony . The Wolves Who's Who . 2001 . Britespot . West Midlands . 1-904103-01-4 .
  4. Web site: Colchester United – Match details – Colchester Utd 0–0 Yeovil & Petters United . https://archive.today/20130827201804/http://coludata.co.uk/matchdetails.asp?mid=4 . dead . 27 August 2013 . Coludata.co.uk . 27 August 2013 .
  5. Web site: Championship Honours (Tier Two) . Coludaybyday.co.uk . 27 August 2013.