William Briscoe (6 November 1896 – 7 February 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 lea ...

who played as a forward. A former

Watford Watford () is a town and non-metropolitan district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of Central London, on the banks of the River Colne, Hertfordshire, River Colne. Initially a smal ...

Stoke Stoke may refer to: Places Canada * Stoke, Quebec New Zealand * Stoke, New Zealand United Kingdom Berkshire * Stoke Row Bristol * Stoke Bishop * Stoke Gifford * Bradley Stoke * Little Stoke * Harry Stoke * Stoke Lodge Bucking ...

, Milton Brotherhood, and Leek United player, he first turned professional with

Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in , the third tier of the English football league system. Vale are named after the valley of ports on the Trent and Mersey Canal ...

in 1918. After five years, he moved on to Congleton Town for a season, only to return to Vale in 1924. He then spent the next seven years with the club, racking up 307 league appearances over his two spells, scoring 51 goals. He returned to Congleton in 1931 before later retiring from the game. He also played

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

for

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation ''Staffs''.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It borders Cheshire to the north-west, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, ...

in the

Minor Counties Championship The NCCA 3 Day Championship or National County Championship is a season-long competition in England and Wales that is contested by the members of the National Counties Cricket Association (NCCA), the so-called national counties (previously ca ...

from 1921 to 1925.

Career

Briscoe appeared for

(three appearances), Milton Brotherhood and Leek United before signing professional forms with

in January 1918. The club were re-elected into 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 October 1919, and Briscoe scored his first Second Division goal on 15 November, in a 2–1 defeat at

Clapton Orient Leyton Orient Football Club, commonly referred to as Orient, is a professional association football club based in Leyton, Waltham Forest, London, England. The team compete in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. ...

. In total he scored 10 goals in 25 appearances in 1919–20. He scored past

rivals A rivalry is the state of two people or Social group, groups engaging in a lasting competitive relationship. Rivalry is the "against each other" spirit between two competing sides. The relationship itself may also be called "a rivalry", and each ...

Stoke on 25 September 1920, in a 2–1 win 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 ...

. He also got on the scoresheet at Molineux and the

City Ground The City Ground is a association football, football stadium in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England, on the banks of the River Trent. It has been home to Nottingham Forest F.C., Nottingham Forest since 1898 and has a capacity of 30,455. ...

to take his league tally to three goals in 35 games in 1920–21. He featured 34 times in 1921–22, scoring just the one goal. He was a member of the sides that shared the North Staffordshire Infirmary Cup in 1920 and 1922. He hit three goals in 40 appearances in 1922–23. Briscoe failed to agree terms with the Port Vale board in the summer of 1923 and switched to nearby

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 ...

side Congleton Town. In January 1924, Vale offered better terms. He re-signed. Despite only playing 21 games, he finished the 1923–24 season as joint- top scorer, tied with Tom Page on 10 goals. He scored 12 goals in 44 games in 1924–25, missing just one match all season, though the prolific Wilf Kirkham now took on the mantel as the club's main source of goals. He hit four of his 12 goals in an 8–2 mauling of non-League Alfreton in an

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

qualifier on 13 December. Briscoe scored four goals in 26 games in 1925–26, and even played a match whilst suffering from

appendicitis Appendicitis is inflammation of the Appendix (anatomy), appendix. Symptoms commonly include right lower abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, fever and anorexia (symptom), decreased appetite. However, approximately 40% of people do not have these t ...

. Briscoe hit seven goals in 32 appearances in 1926–27 and helped the club to finish above Stoke City in the league for the first time. He hit five goals in 22 games in 1927–28, missing much of the season with a broken cheekbone. He scored twice in 25 games in 1928–29, but could not help the club to avoid

relegation Promotion and relegation is used by sports leagues as a process where teams can move up and down among divisions in a league system, based on their performance over a season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are sometimes call ...

. He played eight league games in 1929–30, as Vale stormed to 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. However, he did not feature in the 1930–31 season and was given a free transfer back to Congleton Town in May 1931, who he also coached. In 13 years at the club, he had played 331 games (193 in the Football League) and scored 60 goals (43 in the Football League).

Career statistics

Source:

Honours

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

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Briscoe, Billy 1896 births 1994 deaths People from Fenton, Staffordshire Footballers from Stoke-on-Trent English men's footballers Men's association football forwards Watford F.C. players Stoke City F.C. wartime guest players Port Vale F.C. players Congleton Town F.C. players English Football League players English football coaches Cricketers from Stoke-on-Trent English cricketers Staffordshire cricketers 20th-century English sportsmen