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

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

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 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, ...

Playing career

Rochford was born at New House,

County 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 ...

into a mining family, and as a youth he played for the Esh Winning junior XI. His family subsequently moved to

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

West Sussex West Sussex is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Surrey to the north, East Sussex to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Hampshire to the west. The largest settlement is Cr ...

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 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 ...

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 grey wolf or gray wolf, is a canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, including the dog and dingo, though gr ...

in the 1939 FA Cup Final 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 (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 ...

, the next FA Cup final was not until 7 years later in

1946 1946 (Roman numerals, MCMXLVI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1946th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 946th year of the 2nd millennium, the 46th year of the 20th centur ...

, 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, commonly known as Hamble, is a village and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Eastleigh (borough), Borough of Eastleigh in Hampshire, England. It is best known for being a flying training centre during the Second Wor ...

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 c ...

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 association football, football player and Manager (association football), manager. As a player, he represented England national football team, the England national ...

and Bill Ellerington, 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 and Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies in a loop on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea, London, Chelsea ...

. Although Rochford was strongly tipped for the job, being the players' choice, his application was turned down in favour of Sid Cann. 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 level of the English football league system. Founded in 1937, the club spent its ea ...

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 Gateshead () is a town in the Gateshead Metropolitan Borough of Tyne and Wear, England. It is on the River Tyne's southern bank. The town's attractions include the twenty metre tall Angel of the North sculpture on the town's southern outskirts, ...

, but continued to serve Southampton F.C. by acting as their scout in the area. He died at

Bishop Auckland Bishop Auckland ( ) is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish at the confluence of the River Wear and the River Gaunless in County Durham, England. It is northwest of Darlington and southwest of Durham, England, Durham. M ...

in March 1984.

Honours

Portsmouth * FA Cup winner:

1939 This year also marks the start of the World War II, Second World War, the largest and deadliest conflict in human history. Events Events related to World War II have a "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 ** Coming into effect in Nazi Ger ...

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 20th-century English sportsmen