Joe Mercer (footballer, born 1889) explained

Joe Mercer
Fullname:Joseph Powell Mercer
Birth Date:21 July 1889
Birth Place:Higher Bebington, England
Position:Centre half
Youthyears1:1908–1909
Youthclubs1:Burnell's Ironworks
Years1:1909–1910
Clubs1:Ellesmere Port
Years2:1910–
Clubs2:Nottingham Forest
Caps2:150
Goals2:6
Years3:–1921
Clubs3:Ellesmere Port
Years4:1921–1922
Clubs4:Tranmere Rovers
Caps4:15
Goals4:1

Joseph Powell Mercer (21 July 1889 – 1927) was an English professional footballer who made 150 appearances in the Football League for Nottingham Forest as a centre half.[1] [2] He was the father of footballer and manager Joe Mercer.[3]

Personal life

Mercer worked as a bricklayer before and during his professional football career. He married Ethel Breeze in June 1913 and had four children, the oldest being future footballer and manager Joe Mercer. On 16 December 1914, four months after the outbreak of the First World War and the day after the Football Battalion of the Middlesex Regiment was established, Mercer and Nottingham Forest teammates Tommy Gibson and Harry Iremonger travelled down to London to enlist.[4] He was posted to the front on 17 October 1915. At the front, Mercer was promoted to sergeant, but sustained wounds to the head, leg and shoulder and was captured by the Germans in Oppy on 28 April 1917.[5] He was held in camps at Douai, Bad Langensalza, Giessen and Meschede and returned home in January 1919. In the post-war years, Mercer attempted to resume his football career and continued working as a bricklayer. He died in 1927, of health problems caused by gas inhalation in the trenches a decade earlier.[6]

Career statistics

Club! rowspan="2"
SeasonLeagueFA CupTotal
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Nottingham Forest1910–11[7] First Division13010140
1911–12Second Division36310373
1912–1337020390
1913–1435220372
1914–1529120311
Career total1506801586

Notes and References

  1. Book: Joyce, Michael . Football League Players' Records 1888 to 1939 . 2012 . Tony Brown . 978-1905891610 . Nottingham . 202.
  2. Web site: Mercer Joe Nottingham Forest 1914 . 25 December 2018 . Vintage Footballers . en-GB.
  3. Web site: Royden . Mike . Joe Mercer and the Football Battalion . 9 June 2018.
  4. Web site: EFL Remembers: Royal British Legion – the story of Joe Mercer . 22 January 2021 . www.efl.com . en-gb.
  5. Web site: The Story of the Footballers' Battalions in the First World War . 14 December 2015 . Football and the First World War.
  6. Book: Riddoch . Andrew . When the Whistle Blows: The Story of the Footballers' Battalion in the Great War . Kemp . David . Haynes Publishing . 2010 . 978-0857330772 . Sparkford, Yeovil, Somerset . 264.
  7. Web site: Joe Mercer . 14 July 2019 . The City Ground.