William Ernest Bevis DSM (29 September 1918 – 22 August 1994) 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 ...

who played for

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 ...

as an

outside right Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

in the years either side of the

Second World War 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 ...

Football career

Portsmouth

Bevis was born in

Warsash Warsash is a village in southern Hampshire, England, situated at the mouth of the River Hamble, west of the area known as Locks Heath. Boating plays an important part in the village's economy, and the village has a sailing club. It is also home ...

, Hampshire and played football as a youth with Gosport Borough before joining

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 ...

as a trainee in February 1934. He signed a professional contract with Portsmouth in July 1936, but failed to break through into the first team at

Fratton Park Fratton Park is a football ground in Portsmouth, England, which is the home of Portsmouth F.C. Fratton Park remains as the only home football ground in Portsmouth FC's entire history. The early Fratton Park was designed by local architect Ar ...

Southampton

In July 1937, he was one of several players recruited by

's newly appointed manager Tom Parker, who was trying to build a side to push for promotion from Division Two. Bevis was immediately drafted into the first team as an 18-year-old, replacing the injured John Summers, for his debut in a 0–0 draw with

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 ...

on 4 September 1937. Bevis soon gained a reputation as a speedy right-winger and made 31 appearances in the 1937–38 season, scoring five goals. In the following season he only missed five matches, making 37 appearances and scoring six goals, including a "spectacular"

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 wi ...

in a 3–1 victory at Swansea Town on 1 April 1939. His crosses also laid on scoring opportunities for the central forwards Reg Tomlinson and Fred Briggs who scored 12 and 14 league goals respectively, as the "Saints" finished 18th in the table, four points above the

relegation zone 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 leagues. ...

. At the end of the season,

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 ...

made an enquiry about Bevis's availability. Bevis's football career was then interrupted by the outbreak of the

, although he continued to appear for the Saints in the wartime leagues in the early months of the war. He then joined the Merchant Navy as a

petty officer A petty officer (PO) is a non-commissioned officer in many navies and is given the NATO rank denotation OR-5 or OR-6. In many nations, they are typically equal to a sergeant in comparison to other military branches. Often they may be superio ...

gunner and during the war the ships on which he was serving were

torpedo A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, and with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, s ...

ed three times and

mined Mined may refer to: * Mined (text editor), a terminal-based text editor * Mining, the extraction of valuable geological materials from the Earth See also * Mind (disambiguation) * Mine (disambiguation) Mine, mines, miners or mining may refer ...

once. After one of these attacks, he spent seven days adrift in the

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the "Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

before being rescued. One of the crew who rescued him was a former colleague from

, reserve team goalkeeper Alec Warnock. Bevis was later presented with the

Distinguished Service Medal Distinguished Service Medal (DSM) is a high award of a nation. Examples include: *Distinguished Service Medal (Australia) (established 1991), awarded to personnel of the Australian Defence Force for distinguished leadership in action * Distinguishe ...

King George VI George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George; 14 December 1895 – 6 February 1952) was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until Death and state funeral of George VI, his death in 1952. ...

at Buckingham Palace. After being

demobbed Demobilization or demobilisation (see spelling differences) is the process of standing down a nation's armed forces from combat-ready status. This may be as a result of victory in war, or because a crisis has been peacefully resolved and militar ...

in November 1945, Bevis returned to The Dell. He made 14 appearances, scoring five goals, in the 1946–47 season before losing his place on the right wing to

Wilf Grant Wilfred Grant (3 August 1920 – 17 July 1990) was an English professional footballer who played as a forward for Southampton, Cardiff City and Ipswich Town. Playing career Early career Grant was born in Bedlington and as a youth played for ...

. At the end of the season, despite receiving an offer from

Plymouth Argyle Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. As of the 2021–22 season, the team are competing in League One, the third tier of English football. They have played at Home Park ...

, he decided to retire.

Later career

On retiring from football, he returned to the sea while turning out occasionally for various

non-league Non-League football describes association football, football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is s ...

clubs, including

Winchester City Winchester City Football Club are an English football team based in Winchester, Hampshire and playing in the Southern Football League Division One South. Craig Davis is the current manager. The club motto is "Many in Men, One in Spirit". Histo ...

, Cowes Sports and

. He settled in

Park Gate Park Gate is a locality in the Borough of Fareham in Hampshire, England. It merges into Locks Heath Locks Heath is a western residential suburb of Fareham, in the south of Hampshire, England. Locks Heath is immediately surrounded by a collect ...

, near his place of birth, where he died in August 1994.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bevis, Billy 1918 births People from the Borough of Fareham 1994 deaths English footballers English Football League players Portsmouth F.C. players Southampton F.C. players Winchester City F.C. players Cowes Sports F.C. players British Merchant Navy personnel of World War II Recipients of the Distinguished Service Medal (United Kingdom) Association football forwards