William Ernest Rawlings (3 January 1896 – 25 September 1972) was an English

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 ...

. A

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, he scored more than 196 goals in 367 league games in a 15-year career. He began his career with

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

in 1918, who were elevated from the Southern League to the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

in 1919. He finished as the club's top-scorer eight times in nine seasons from 1920–21 to 1927–28, helping the Saints to win the Third Division South title in 1921–22 and to reach the

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in 1925 and 1927. He also won himself two

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caps in 1922, both of which were from

British Home Championship The British Home Championship (historically known as the British International Championship or simply the International Championship) was an annual football competition contested between the United Kingdom's four national teams: England, Scotlan ...

games. He signed with

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

in March 1928 and moved on to Port Vale in November 1929. He picked up a serious ankle injury while with the Valiants. He moved on Newport via

New Milton New Milton is a market town and civil parish in the New Forest District, New Forest district, in southwest Hampshire, England. To the north is in the New Forest and to the south the coast at Barton-on-Sea. The town is equidistant between Lymi ...

the following year before retiring in 1933.

Early and personal life

William Ernest Rawlings was born on 3 January 1896 at Clatford Lodge,

Upper Clatford Upper Clatford is a village and civil parish in Hampshire, England. The village is in the valley of the River Anton, upstream from the point where it joins the River Test at the south. Clatford is to the south from Andover, Hampshire, Andover ...

near

Andover, Hampshire Andover ( ) is a town in the Test Valley district of Hampshire, England. The town is on the River Anton, a major tributary of the River Test, Test, and lies alongside the major A303 road, A303 trunk road at the eastern end of Salisbury Plain, ...

. He was the second of four children to William and Jane (née Barlow); his father was a domestic coachman and later ran The Elephant Inn in Andover. Rawlings worked as an assistant grocer before becoming a professional footballer. Rawlings was playing for hometown club

Andover Andover may refer to: Places Australia *Andover, Tasmania Canada * Andover Parish, New Brunswick * Perth-Andover, New Brunswick United Kingdom * Andover, Hampshire, England ** RAF Andover, a former Royal Air Force station United States * Andov ...

when he enlisted to fight in

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

in 1914, aged 18. He served with the Wessex Field Ambulance and was awarded the 1914 star. He married Ethel M. Brown in 1921. He became a licensee in the 1930s, running the Glebe Hotel in

from July 1930. He spent 25 years as a

civil servant The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil service personnel hired rather than elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leadership. A civil service offic ...

in the Admiralty, based in Wareham.

Career

Southampton

Rawlings' career started in 1918 with an apprenticeship at

, having impressed playing against their

reserve team In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players who are under contract to a club but who do not regularly play in matches for the club's primary team. Reserve teams usually include players who are part of the larger first-team squad but ...

for his regiment two years previously. He turned professional in February 1919 and made his first-team debut against Swansea Town on 1 September. He quickly settled into the side, building a formidable attacking partnership with Arthur Dominy. He scored 19 goals in the Southern League in 1919–20. The Saints were then elected into the

, becoming founder members of the Third Division. He became the club's top scorer in 1920–21 with 22 goals, as Southampton were denied

promotion Promotion may refer to: Marketing * Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...

despite finishing in second place. He hit 32 goals in 1921–22 to win himself attention at a national level and to help his club win the Third Division South title. His intelligent play and deadly

shooting Shooting is the act or process of discharging a projectile from a ranged weapon (such as a gun, bow, crossbow, slingshot, or blowpipe). Even the acts of launching flame, artillery, darts, harpoons, grenades, rockets, and guided missile ...

earned him two

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. He appeared against

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

and

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

in the 1922 British Home Championship, achieving the rare distinction of being capped for England while playing for a third-tier club. In 1922–23, the Saints posted a respectable 11th-place finish in the Second Division, with Dominy finishing as top-scorer. Rawlings then returned to form and finished as the club's top-scorer for the third time in four seasons in 1923–24, when he found the net 21 times. Rawlings went on to remain as the club's top scorer for another four seasons, hitting 16 goals in 1924–25, 20 goals in 1925–26, 28 goals in 1926–27, and 21 goals in 1927–28. He also helped the club to reach the

1927 Events January * January 1 – The British Broadcasting ''Company'' becomes the BBC, British Broadcasting ''Corporation'', when its Royal Charter of incorporation takes effect. John Reith, 1st Baron Reith, John Reith becomes the first ...

and scored in what was a 2–1 defeat 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 ...

at Stamford Bridge. He toured

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

with an XI picked by

The Football Association The Football Association (the FA) is the Sports governing body, governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Bailiwick of Guernsey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the oldest footb ...

in 1927. Nevertheless, he was

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-listed by the club, though offers from Everton and

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Since th ...

were rejected. He scored a total of 193 goals in 364 appearances in league and cup competitions during his ten years at The Dell. His 193 goals place him third on the club's list of all-time goalscorers, behind

Mick Channon Michael Roger Channon (born 28 November 1948) is an English former professional footballer who played as a forward and represented the England national team in the 1970s. Scoring over 250 goals in his career, mainly for Southampton, he becam ...

and

Matthew Le Tissier Matthew Paul Le Tissier (; born 14 October 1968) is a former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. Le Tissier spent his entire professional club career with Southampton, before turning to non-League football in 2002; his loyalty gar ...

Manchester United

In March 1928, he signed for First Division side

for a fee of £4,000. He scored on his

Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and is the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,197, it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after W ...

debut on 14 March, a 1–0 win over Everton. He hit a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three Wick ...

on 7 April, in a 4–3 home win over

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2021 population of 78,266. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River B ...

, and finished the 1927–28 season with ten goals for the Red Devils. However, he was limited to six goals in 1928–29. He found all three goals of the 1929–30 campaign on 14 September, in a 3–2 win over

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ), colloquially known as Boro, is a port town in the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Lying to the south of the River Tees, Middlesbrough forms part of the Teesside Built up area, built-up area and the Tees Va ...

Ayresome Park Ayresome Park was a football stadium in the Ayresome area of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. It was the home of Middlesbrough F.C. from its construction in time for the 1903–04 season, until the Riverside Stadium opened in 1995. It ...

Later career

In November 1929, he moved to Port Vale after the Valiants paid United a four-figure fee. Rawlings scored on his Vale debut in a 5–2 win over

Accrington Stanley Accrington Stanley Football Club is a professional association football club based in Accrington, Lancashire, England, that compete in the , the fourth level of the English football league system. They have spent their entire history playing a ...

at the

Old Recreation Ground The Old Recreation Ground was a football stadium located in Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent, England, and home to Port Vale F.C. from 1913 to 1950. It was the sixth ground the club used. Structure and facilities The stadium was in rather bad conditi ...

on 9 November. He played a further five games before suffering a serious ankle injury on Christmas Day 1929, during a 2–1 home defeat by

Stockport County Stockport County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Stockport, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in EFL League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1883 as Heaton ...

. The "Valiants" went on to win the

Third Division North The Third Division North of the Football League was a tier in the English football league system from 1921 to 1958. It ran in parallel with the Third Division South with clubs elected to the League or relegated from a higher division allocated to ...

title in 1929–30. He recovered to full fitness by the spring of 1930, but was unable to return to the first-team and left for

during the 1930–31 season. Later, in 1930, he moved to

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight (Help:IPA/English, /waɪt/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''WYTE'') is an island off the south coast of England which, together with its surrounding uninhabited islets and Skerry, skerries, is also a ceremonial county. T ...

and played for Newport, where he was reunited with Dominy, winning the

Hampshire Senior Cup The Hampshire Senior Cup is a cup competition open to football teams affiliated with the Hampshire Football Association. The competition was founded in 1887 and has been contested every year since, except 1914 to 1919 when it was postponed due t ...

in 1932.

Style of play

Rawlings was a

with strong heading and shooting skills.

Career statistics

Source:

Honours

Southampton *

Football League Third Division South The Third Division South of the Football League was a tier in the English football league system from 1921 to 1958. It ran in parallel with the Third Division North with clubs elected to the League or relegated from Division Two allocated to ...

: 1921–22 Professionals *

FA Charity Shield The Football Association Community Shield (formerly the Charity Shield) is English football's annual match contested at Wembley Stadium between the champions of the previous Premier League season and the holders of the FA Cup. If the Premier ...

runner-up:

1926 In Turkey, the year technically contained only 352 days. As Friday, December 18, 1926 ''(Julian Calendar)'' was followed by Saturday, January 1, 1927 '' (Gregorian Calendar)''. 13 days were dropped to make the switch. Turkey thus became the ...

Port Vale *

Football League Third Division North The Third Division North of the Football League was a tier in the English football league system from 1921 to 1958. It ran in parallel with the Third Division South with clubs elected to the League or relegated from a higher division allocated t ...

: 1929–30 Newport *

: 1932

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rawlings, Bill 1896 births 1972 deaths Sportspeople from Andover, Hampshire Footballers from Hampshire English men's footballers Men's association football forwards England men's international footballers Andover F.C. players Southampton F.C. players Manchester United F.C. players Port Vale F.C. players New Milton Town F.C. players Newport (IOW) F.C. players Southern Football League players English Football League players British Army personnel of World War I 20th-century British civil servants Royal Army Medical Corps soldiers Military personnel from Hampshire 20th-century English sportsmen