Billy Meredith

BILLY MEREDITH d1958. Welsh professional footballer widely considered to be one of the early superstars of football due to his performances, notably for Manchester City and Manchester United. He won each domestic trophy in the English football league and gained 48 caps for Wales for whom he scored 11 goals and won two BHC titles. His favoured position was outside-right and his key skills were dribbling, passing, crossing and shooting. A dedicated and extremely fit professional, his habit of chewing on a toothpick during games made him instantly recognisable. In 27 seasons in the Football League between 1892 to 1924 (not including the four seasons lost to the First World War and the 1905–06 season in which he was banned for bribing an opposition player), he scored 176 goals in 740 league and Cup appearances. His career took off when he signed with Manchester City in 1894 and turned professional in January 1895. He captained the team to the club's first major honour (a 1–0 victory over Bolton Wanderers) in the 1904 FA Cup Final. He moved to Manchester United in May 1906 after being banned for bribing Aston Villa player Alex Leake £10 to lose a match. There he won the league title in 1907–08 and 1910–11 / the FA Cup in 1909 and two FA Charity Shields. He returned to Manchester City in 1921 (at the age of 47) and played a further 32 games before retiring in 1924, making him the oldest ever player for City, United and Wales. He later ran the Stretford Road Hotel. He died in Lancashire aged 83 on April 19th 1958