William Rochford (27 May 1913 – 9 March 1984) was an English footballer. A member of the

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city status in the United Kingdom, city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is admi ...

team that won the 1939 FA Cup, he played over 100 matches for Portsmouth and for their south coast rivals,

Southampton Southampton () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire, S ...

Playing career

Rochford was born at New House, County Durham into a mining family, and as a youth he played for the

Esh Winning Esh Winning is a village, and location of a former colliery, in County Durham, England. It is situated in the Deerness Valley to the west of Durham. The village was founded by the Pease family in the 1850s to service a new mine on the Esh Estate ...

junior XI. His family subsequently moved to

Cuckfield Cuckfield ( ) is a village and civil parish in the Mid Sussex District of West Sussex, England, on the southern slopes of the Weald. It lies south of London, north of Brighton, and east northeast of the county town of Chichester. Nearby town ...

West Sussex West Sussex is a county in South East England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the shire districts of Adur, Arun, Chichester, Horsham, and Mid Sussex, and the boroughs of Crawley and Worthing. Covering an a ...

from where he joined

in July 1931.

Portsmouth

Rochford (known as "Rockie" throughout his career) made his debut for Portsmouth against

in the Rowland Hospital Cup at The Dell in April 1932. At first, playing at right-back, he made only the occasional first team start for Pompey, who finished regularly in mid-table in the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

First Division, but by 1934-35 he had become a regular choice and in 1936 he represented the English League. In 1937 he switched to left-back and stayed there, being an ever-present in 1937-38. His greatest moment for Portsmouth came in the FA Cup, when Pompey, who were struggling in the relegation zone, swept aside high-flying

Wolves The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, and gray wolves, as popularly u ...

in the

1939 FA Cup Final The 1939 FA Cup Final was contested by Portsmouth and Wolverhampton Wanderers at Wembley. Portsmouth won 4–1, with goals from Bert Barlow, John Anderson and two by Cliff Parker. Dicky Dorsett scored Wolves' effort. As a result of the suspe ...

running in 4-1 victors. As a result of the suspension of the FA Cup for the duration of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, the next FA Cup final was not until 7 years later in 1946, thereby enabling Portsmouth fans to claim that their team has held the Cup for the longest time. Rochford continued to play for Portsmouth during the war, making over 200 appearances in war-time matches. During the War he worked at the aircraft factory in

Hamble-le-Rice Hamble-le-Rice is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Eastleigh in Hampshire, England. It is best known for being an aircraft training centre during the Second World War and is a popular yachting location. The village and the River H ...

and also played football for their works team

Folland Aircraft Folland Aircraft was a British aircraft manufacturing company which was active between 1937 and 1963. History British Marine Aircraft Limited was formed in February 1936 to produce Sikorsky S-42-A flying boats under licence in the UK. The ...

Southampton

After the cessation of hostilities, he joined

in July 1946 for a fee of £550 in readiness for the first post-war league season. Rochford soon became automatic choice as team captain, and, according to Holley & Chalk's "In That Number" he "was a father figure to many of the younger and less experienced players", including

Alf Ramsey Sir Alfred Ernest Ramsey (22 January 1920 – 28 April 1999) was an English football player and manager. As a player, he represented the England national team and captained the side, but he is best known for his time as England manager ...

and

Bill Ellerington William Ellerington (30 June 1923 – 4 April 2015) was an English footballer who was capped twice for the full England national team and once for England B, and spent his entire professional club career at Southampton F.C. Born in Southamp ...

, who were vying for the right-back position. Over the next few seasons he rarely missed a game as Saints narrowly missed out on promotion from Division 2. In August 1949, he applied for the position as manager following the departure of Bill Dodgin to

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandswo ...

. Although Rochford was strongly tipped for the job, being the players' choice, his application was turned down in favour of

Sid Cann Sydney Thomas Cann (30 October 1911 – 1 November 1996) was an English professional football defender and football manager. He was capped twice by England at Schools level. Playing career Born in Babbacombe, Torquay, Sid Cann joined Torquay Un ...

. Although appointed player-coach under Cann, Rochford was disappointed and after missing out on promotion yet again at the end of the 1949-50 season, he left the club in July 1950 to join

Colchester United Colchester United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Colchester, Essex, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1937, the club spent its earl ...

Colchester

Colchester were about to embark on their first season in the Football League, but Rochford was only able to make two league appearances before retiring.

After football

Following his retirement, Rochford returned to his native north-east to become a farmer near Gateshead, but continued to serve Southampton F.C. by acting as their scout in the area. He died at Bishop Auckland in March 1984.

Honours

Portsmouth * FA Cup winner:

1939 This year also marks the start of the Second World War, the largest and deadliest conflict in human history. Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 ** Third Reich *** Jews are forbidde ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rochford, Bill 1913 births 1984 deaths Footballers from County Durham English men's footballers Esh Winning F.C. players Portsmouth F.C. players Folland Sports F.C. players Southampton F.C. players Colchester United F.C. players English Football League players English Football League representative players Men's association football fullbacks