William Barron (26 October 1917 – 2 January 2006) was an English sportsman, who played football in the higher leagues before the Second World War and, along with some football, first-class

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

afterwards.

Sporting career

William Barron was born in

Herrington Herrington is an area in the south of Sunderland, in Tyne and Wear, England, Historic counties of England, historically in County Durham. ''The Herringtons'' are split into ''East & Middle'' and ''West'' and ''New'' villages. East and Middle He ...

Co Durham County Durham, officially simply Durham, is a ceremonial county in North East England.UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. The county borders Northumberland and Tyne an ...

on 26 October 1917. Before the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Barron, his first name shortened to Bill, was mostly known as a

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 lea ...

, playing for

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club ( ), commonly referred to as Wolves, is a professional association football, football club based in Wolverhampton, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league s ...

(though not in a first team fixture),

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Charlton, south-east London, England. The team compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Their home ground is ...

and

Northampton Town Northampton Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Northampton, England. The team competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 1897, the c ...

. He was mostly a forward, but played on after the war for Northampton as a left-back. His post-war focus was on cricket: a left-handed batsman and leg-break bowler and an occasional wicketkeeper, Barron played 118 first-class games for

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire ( ; abbreviated Northants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Leicestershire, Rutland and Lincolnshire to the north, Cambridgeshire to the east, Bedfordshi ...

between 1946 and 1951. His first-class debut, however, came in a 1945 match for

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

against

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

. He also played once for Sir PF Warner's XI in 1947. He died in

Northampton Northampton ( ) is a town and civil parish in Northamptonshire, England. It is the county town of Northamptonshire and the administrative centre of the Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority of West Northamptonshire. The town is sit ...

on 2 January 2006, aged 88.

Personal life

Barron's son

Roger Roger is a masculine given name, and a surname. The given name is derived from the Old French personal names ' and '. These names are of Germanic languages">Germanic origin, derived from the elements ', ''χrōþi'' ("fame", "renown", "honour") ...

also became a footballer.

References

External links

Statistical summary
from CricketArchive * 1917 births 2006 deaths English cricketers Lancashire cricketers Northamptonshire cricketers Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. players Charlton Athletic F.C. players Northampton Town F.C. players Durham cricketers English men's footballers {{England-footy-forward-1910s-stub Hartlepool United F.C. players Men's association football fullbacks Annfield Plain F.C. players English Football League players Sportspeople from Houghton-le-Spring Footballers from Tyne and Wear Cricketers from Tyne and Wear 20th-century English sportsmen