Arthur Reginald Dorrell (30 March 1896 – 13 September 1942) was an English

international International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations". International may also refer to: Music Albums * ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011 * ''International'' (New Order album), 2002 * ''International'' (The T ...

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who played on the

left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in so ...

. He was the son of former Villa player William Dorrell. He played for

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa P ...

between 1919 and 1931, scoring 65 goals in 390 appearances and winning four

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. Caps typically have a visor, or no brim at all. They are popular in casual and informal se ...

s. He played in both the

1920 Events January * January 1 ** Polish–Soviet War in 1920: The Russian Red Army increases its troops along the Polish border from 4 divisions to 20. ** Kauniainen, completely surrounded by the city of Espoo, secedes from Espoo as its own m ...

and

1924 Events January * January 12 – Gopinath Saha shoots Ernest Day, whom he has mistaken for Sir Charles Tegart, the police commissioner of Calcutta, and is arrested soon after. * January 20– 30 – Kuomintang in China h ...

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competit ...

finals, the first of which Villa won. He then retired after a season with

Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in . Vale are the only English Football League club not to be named after a place; their name being a reference to the valley of ...

Early and personal life

Arthur Reginald Dorrell was born on 30 March 1896 in

Small Heath, Birmingham Small Heath is an area in south-east Birmingham, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England situated on and around the Coventry Road about from the city centre. History Small Heath, which has been settled and used since Roman times, sits on ...

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Avon an ...

. He was the third of four children to

William William is a masculine given name of Norman French origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conq ...

and Clara; his father was a professional footballer, as well as a licensed

victualler A victualler is traditionally a person who supplies food, beverages and other provisions for the crew of a vessel at sea. There are a number of other more particular uses of the term, such as: * The official supplier of food to the Royal Navy in ...

and turner. His father married a further two times, having a child with each woman. Dorrell enlisted as an engineers fitter in the

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

on 24 October 1914, serving throughout

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

until being demobbed on 20 May 1919. Dorrell married Sarah Jane Clewlow in 1922, and the couple had a daughter, Marjorie. Dorrell died on 13 September 1942 at The Pelham Arms in

Alum Rock, Birmingham Alum Rock is an inner-city suburb of Birmingham, England, located roughly 2 miles east of Birmingham city centre. The area is officially a division of Saltley. Alum Rock Road is located here and has many Pakistani clothing shops and restauran ...

, and his funeral was held three days later at Erdington Parish Church; the pallbearers were

Frank Moss Frank Edward "Ted" Moss (September 23, 1911 – January 29, 2003) was an American lawyer and politician. A Democrat, he served as a United States Senator from Utah from 1959 to 1977. Early life and education Frank Moss was born in Holladay ...

Joe Bradford Joseph Bradford (22 January 1901 – 6 September 1980) was an English professional footballer who played as a centre forward. Born in Peggs Green, near Coalville, Leicestershire, Bradford made nearly 450 appearances for Birmingham in all com ...

Billy Kirton William John Kirton (2 December 1896 – 27 September 1970) was a footballer in the early years of professional football in England, who played over 200 games for Aston Villa and is best known for scoring the only goal in the 1920 FA Cup Final ...

, Dicky York, George Blackburn and Eric Houghton.

Club career

Aston Villa

Dorrell played for Carey Hall and R.A.S.C., before joining

in May 1919. He made 19 appearances in the 1919–20 season, as Villa posted a ninth-place finish in the First Division. He also played in the

1920 FA Cup final The 1920 FA Cup Final, the first since the end of the First World War, was contested by Aston Villa and Huddersfield at Stamford Bridge. Aston Villa won 1–0, with the goal coming in extra time from Billy Kirton, to clinch the trophy for a reco ...

, as Villa claimed the

for the sixth time with a 1–0 win over

Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The team have played home games at the Kirklees Stadium since moving from Leeds Road in 1994. ...

Stamford Bridge Stamford Bridge may refer to: * Stamford Bridge, East Riding of Yorkshire, a village in England ** Battle of Stamford Bridge, 25 September 1066 * Stamford Bridge (bridge), a bridge in the village of Stamford Bridge * Stamford Bridge (stadium) ...

. He featured 39 times in 1920–21, as Villa finished tenth in the league. He bagged six goals in 48 appearances in 1921–22, helping Villa to fifth in the league. Dorrell scored seven goals in 42 games in 1922–23, as Villa slipped a place to sixth. They finished sixth again in 1923–24, with Dorrell scoring five goals in 45 games. He also played in the

1924 FA Cup final The 1924 FA Cup Final was contested by Newcastle United and Aston Villa at Wembley. Newcastle won 2–0, with the goals scored by Neil Harris and Stan Seymour. The match has become commonly known as the "Rainy Day Final" due to the weather ...

Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in north-west Londo ...

, which ended in a 2–0 defeat to

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional Association football, football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football league system, English football. The club was ...

. The club slipped to 15th place in 1924–25, despite Dorrell scoring eight goals in 45 appearances. He hit five goals in 42 games in 1925–26, as Villa rose back to sixth. Villa finished tenth in 1926–27, with Dorrell scoring eight goals in 39 games. He then hit nine goals in 39 games in 1927–28, as the "Villans" rose two places to eighth. They then finished third in 1928–29, with Dorrell hitting nine goals in 29 appearances. However, he featured just three times in 1929–30, as Villa finished in fourth spot. He played no part at all in the 1930–31 campaign, as the club finished as runners-up to

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

. He made a total of 390 appearances in all competitions for the club, scoring 65 goals.

Port Vale

He signed with

in June 1931, along with long-time Villa teammate Richard York. He scored five goals in 34 Second Division games in the 1931–32 campaign, helping the "Valiants" to narrowly avoid

relegation In sports leagues, promotion and relegation is a process where teams are transferred between multiple divisions based on their performance for the completed season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are often called open league ...

. Now aged 36, he took the decision to retire from football in May 1932. Upon his retirement as a player, he returned to Aston Villa as a

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

International career

Dorrell made his

debut on 8 December 1924, in a 4–0 win over

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to ...

The Hawthorns The Hawthorns is an all-seater football stadium in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England, with a capacity of 26,688. It has been the home of Championship club West Bromwich Albion since 1900, when it became the sixth ground to be used by the clu ...

. His second

came against

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

on 28 February 1925, in a 2–1 win at

Vetch Field The Vetch Field was a football stadium in Swansea, Wales. It was used for football matches and was the home ground of Swansea City until the club moved to the newly built Liberty Stadium in 2005. Opened in 1912, the ground held around 12,000 at ...

, as part of the

1925 British Home Championship Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number), the natural number following 18 and preceding 20 * one of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (film), a 1987 science fiction film Music ...

. On 21 May 1925, he scored in a 3–2 win over

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

in a friendly at the

Stade Olympique Yves-du-Manoir The Stade Yves-du-Manoir (officially Stade olympique Yves-du-Manoir, also known as the Stade olympique de Colombes, or simply Colombes to the locals) is a rugby, track and association football stadium in Colombes, near Paris, France. History ...

. His fourth and final cap came on 24 October 1925, in a goalless draw with

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

Windsor Park Windsor Park is a football stadium in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It is the home ground of Linfield F.C. who own the land the stadium is built on, while the Irish Football Association own and operate the stadium and pay Linfield an annual re ...

in the 1926 British Home Championship.

Statistics

Club statistics

Source:

International statistics

Honours

Aston Villa *

; runner-up:

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dorrell, Arthur 1896 births 1942 deaths People from Small Heath, Birmingham Footballers from Birmingham, West Midlands British Army personnel of World War I English men's footballers England men's international footballers Men's association football wingers Port Vale F.C. players Aston Villa F.C. players English Football League players English Football League representative players Association football coaches Aston Villa F.C. non-playing staff