William Boardman (14 October 1895−1968) 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 ...

who played as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

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 ...

for

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The team compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league system. Leeds United have won the League Championship th ...

Doncaster Rovers Doncaster Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The team currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system after winning the 202 ...

and

Crewe Alexandra Crewe Alexandra Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Crewe, Cheshire, England. Its first team competes in League Two, the fourth level of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Railwaymen' ...

Playing career

He is first known to have played for Eccles Borough from where he moved to Leeds United after he represented the Manchester League against the Irish League. His debut for Leeds was on 6 November 1920 against

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, the cl ...

and that season he went onto make 3 more appearances. In January 1922 he moved to Doncaster Rovers in the

Midland League The Midland Football League, officially known as the Capelli Sport Midland Football League since January 2025 for sponsorship reasons, is an English football league that was founded in 2014 by the merger of the former Midland Alliance and Midl ...

, and then played with them in the Third Division North when they were elected in 1923. He enjoyed success at Doncaster, scoring 37 times in 60 Midland League appearances in his first two seasons, and overall 61 times in 196 games. He moved to Crewe for one season in 1927−28, and then to non-league

Chester Chester is a cathedral city in Cheshire, England, on the River Dee, Wales, River Dee, close to the England–Wales border. With a built-up area population of 92,760 in 2021, it is the most populous settlement in the borough of Cheshire West an ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boardman, Billy 1895 births 1968 deaths Footballers from Urmston Men's association football forwards Doncaster Rovers F.C. players Leeds United F.C. players Crewe Alexandra F.C. players Chester City F.C. players English Football League players Midland Football League players Eccles United F.C. players English men's footballers 20th-century English sportsmen