William Caulfield (20 March 1892 – January quarter 1972) was an English professional

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. Born in

Haydock Haydock is a village within the Metropolitan Borough of St Helens, in Merseyside, England. At the 2011 Census, it had a population of 11,416 Haydock's historic area covers the Haydock electoral ward and a section of the Blackbrook ward. Haydo ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

, he began his career in local football with

Ormskirk Ormskirk is a market town in the West Lancashire district of Lancashire, England. It is located north of Liverpool, northwest of St Helens, Merseyside, St Helens, southeast of Southport and southwest of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. Ormski ...

. He later played for Southport Central before moving into

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, it is the oldest football league in the world, and was the top-level football league in England from ...

with

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...

in February 1915. However, due to the outbreak of the First World War and the subsequent suspension of competitive football in England, he failed to make an appearance for the club. In 1919, Caulfield returned to Southport (the club had dropped "Central" from its name), who by then were playing in the

Central League The or , also known as the for sponsorship reasons, is one of the two professional baseball leagues that constitute Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan. The winner of the league championship plays against the winner of the Pacific League i ...

. After one season with Southport, he moved to fellow Central League outfit

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' ...

in the summer of 1920, initially as an amateur player. Crewe were founding members of the

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 ...

at the start of the 1921–22 campaign, and Caulfield signed a professional contract with the club in the summer of 1921. Over the next two seasons, he went on to make 59 League appearances for Crewe, scoring 23 goals during this time. In July 1923 Caulfield joined

Nelson Nelson may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Nelson'' (1918 film), a historical film directed by Maurice Elvey * ''Nelson'' (1926 film), a historical film directed by Walter Summers * ''Nelson'' (opera), an opera by Lennox Berkeley to a lib ...

, who had just been promoted to the

Football League Second Division The Football League Second Division was the second level division in the English football league system between 1892 and 1992. Following the foundation of the FA Premier League, the Football League divisions were renumbered and the third tier ...

for the first time in their history. During pre-season training he suffered a groin injury that forced him to miss the first three months of the campaign. When Caulfield eventually made his debut for Nelson on 3 November 1923, he scored two goals in a 3–0 win over

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is an English professional football club based in Coventry, West Midlands. The club plays in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club is nicknamed The Sky Blues after the sky blue colou ...

at Seedhill. During the remainder of the 1923–24 season, he played 18 League matches and scored a total of five goals. In September 1924, Caulfield was released by Nelson and returned to Crewe Alexandra. In a solitary season with the side, he made 29 appearances but did not score any goals. In the summer of 1925, Caulfield joined

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 ...

, his final club.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Caulfield, Billy 1892 births 1972 deaths Men's association football forwards Blackburn Rovers F.C. players Chester City F.C. players Crewe Alexandra F.C. players English Football League players English men's footballers Footballers from St Helens, Merseyside Nelson F.C. players People from Haydock Footballers from Merseyside Sportspeople from the Metropolitan Borough of St Helens Southport F.C. players 20th-century English sportsmen