William Etheridge Chesser (11 August 1893 – 27 October 1949) Access individual season statistics via Season Stats dropdown menu. 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 scored 28 goals from 124 appearances in

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 ...

playing as an

inside left In the sport of association football, a forward (attacker or striker) is an outfield position which primarily plays further up the pitch than midfielders and defenders. As with any attacking player, the role of the forward relies heavily on be ...

for

Bradford City Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The club competes in , the third tier of English football, and is managed by Graham Alexander. The club was founded in 1903 and ...

, Lincoln City, Merthyr Town and Wigan Borough.

Football career

Chesser was born in

Stockton-on-Tees Stockton-on-Tees is a market town in County Durham, England, with a population of 84,815 at the 2021 UK census. It gives its name to and is the largest settlement in the wider Borough of Stockton-on-Tees. It is part of Teesside and the Tees Val ...

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 ...

. He played for his local team, Stockton, before signing for

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 ...

-holders

in December 1911. He made his

Football League First Division The Football League First Division was the top division of the Football League in England from 1888 until the end of the 1991–92 season, when its teams broke away to form the Premier League. From 1992 to 2004, the name First Division was g ...

debut the following season, but played only seven League games for Bradford City, scoring twice, before moving down to the Second Division with Lincoln City for a fee of £600 in February 1914. He went straight into the first team, and by the time the First World War put a stop to League football, he had played 45 games. He played for Lincoln City regularly in the wartime competitions, and also made guest appearances for former club Bradford City. In 1919–20, the first post-war season, Chesser was Lincoln City's leading scorer, though with only eight goals as the club finished in 21st place in the League and failed to be re-elected. Chesser moved to Merthyr Town, founder members of the newly formed

Football League Third Division South The Third Division South 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 North with clubs elected to the League or relegated from Division Two allocated to ...

. He stayed only one season with the club, but became part of their history by scoring the winning goal in their first Football League game, a 2–1 win at home to

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition buildin ...

. In 1921 he joined Wigan Borough, again for their first season in the Football League as founder members of the Third Division North. He played 13 League games before returning to Lincoln City, but made no more first-team appearances for the latter club. Chesser died on 27 October 1949 aged 56.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chesser, Billy 1893 births 1949 deaths Footballers from Stockton-on-Tees English men's footballers Men's association football forwards Stockton F.C. players Bradford City A.F.C. players Lincoln City F.C. players Merthyr Town F.C. players Wigan Borough F.C. players English Football League players 20th-century English sportsmen