William Frith (9 June 1912 – 1996) was an English

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player and

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. Starting his career with Worksop Town,

Mansfield Town Mansfield Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the third level of the English football league system. The club was formed in 1897 as Mans ...

, and Chesterfield, he won a move to

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 ...

in 1932. He stayed with the club right up until the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, helping the club to finish 1935–36 as Third Division South champions, and played a total of 165 games for the club 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 ...

. In 1945, he was appointed as manager of Port Vale before returning to Coventry as manager in 1947. His time at both clubs was unsuccessful, and he spent the next decade in

non-League football 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 ...

as manager of Stafford Rangers and Rugby Town. He returned to Coventry as manager in 1957 and led the club to

promotion Promotion may refer to: Marketing * Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...

out of the Fourth Division in 1958–59, but was sacked in 1961. His last management post was at Chelmsford City between 1963 and 1965; he led the club to second in the Southern League in 1963–64.

Playing career

Frith played as a

wing half In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

for

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 ...

sides Worksop Town and

. He

transfer Transfer may refer to: Arts and media * ''Transfer'' (2010 film), a German science-fiction movie directed by Damir Lukacevic and starring Zana Marjanović * ''Transfer'' (1966 film), a short film * ''Transfer'' (journal), in management studies * ...

red to Second Division side Chesterfield in 1931, and scored on his debut in the

on 19 September, in a 3–2 win over

Bradford (Park Avenue) Bradford (Park Avenue) Association Football Club, sometimes abbreviated as BPA AFC, is an association football club based in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. The team currently competes in , at the eighth tier of the English football league ...

. He scored a total of three goals in nine league games before he moved on to

later in the year. He remained in Harry Storer's team up until the outbreak of

. During this time, Coventry finished second in the Third Division South in 1933–34, though were not promoted. They did achieve promotion at the end of the 1935–36 campaign after topping the division, one point ahead of chasers

Luton Town Luton Town Football Club is a professional association football, football club from Luton, Bedfordshire, England. The club currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. Nicknamed "The Hatters", L ...

. Coventry finished in fourth place in the Second Division in the two pre-war seasons, missing out on promotion to the First Division by one point in 1937–38 and four points in 1938–39. Frith made 172 League appearances for Coventry City in two spells.

Managerial career

Port Vale

Frith was appointed

of Port Vale in August 1945. The 1945–46 season was uneventful, and he seemed to settle into management quite well. In preparation for the first season of post-war football, he signed experienced forward Colin Lyman from

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...

for a 'fairly substantial fee', full-back

Garth Butler Walter Garth Butler (7 February 1923 – 13 July 1995) was an English footballer. He was nicknamed "the assassin" for his habit of taking several different coloured pills before a match. Career Butler joined Port Vale from Derby County in Ju ...

from

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club in Derby, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. One of the 12 founder members of the English Football ...

, and half-back Norman Hallam from Chelsea. He sold goalkeeper Arthur Jepson to

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 ...

for £3,750. However, after a poor start to the season, he resigned in October 1946 over a policy difference with the club's directors. He claimed the board refused to back his suggestions for new players, interfered in team selection and failed to grant him a three-year

contract A contract is an agreement that specifies certain legally enforceable rights and obligations pertaining to two or more parties. A contract typically involves consent to transfer of goods, services, money, or promise to transfer any of thos ...

– claims the club denied. The "Valiants" went on to finish the 1946–47 campaign in tenth place in the Third Division South under

Gordon Hodgson Gordon Hodgson (16 April 1904 – 14 June 1951) was a professional sportsman, born in Transvaal Colony, who is best known as a striker for Liverpool and as a fast bowler for Lancashire. He won two international caps for South Africa and three ...

Coventry City

After leaving Port Vale, Frith returned to

Highfield Road Highfield Road was a football stadium in the city of Coventry, England. It was the home ground for Coventry City for 106 years. History It was built in 1899 in the Hillfields district, close to the city centre, and staged its final game on 30 ...

as assistant to Dick Bayliss and also played seven league games. Following Bayliss' death, Frith was appointed manager of

in August 1947, remaining in that position until November 1948. He signed goalkeeper Reg Matthews but was sacked with the club in the bottom two. Coventry finished the 1947–48 Second Division season in tenth place, and went on to end the 1948–49 season just two points above the

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 ...

zone under Harry Storer's stewardship. Following spells in charge at non-league clubs Stafford Rangers and Rugby Town, he rejoined Coventry City as a

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of Athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Coac ...

. He was once again appointed manager in September 1957. His side ended 1957–58 in 19th place in the Third Division South, and so were invited to become founder members of the Fourth Division in 1958–59. He then took the club to a second-place finish in 1958–59, four points behind champions Port Vale, his former club; City were therefore promoted into the Third Division. His side flirted with the prospect of a second successive promotion in 1959–60 but ultimately finished in fifth place. They failed to push for promotion in 1960–61, and ended the campaign in 15th place. On what was known as 'Black Saturday', 25 November 1961, Coventry were dumped out of the

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 ...

by non-league

King's Lynn King's Lynn, known until 1537 as Bishop's Lynn and colloquially as Lynn, is a port and market town in the borough of King's Lynn and West Norfolk in the county of Norfolk, England. It is north-east of Peterborough, north-north-east of Cambridg ...

. Frith was sacked by chairman Derrick Robins. He was replaced by

Jimmy Hill James William Thomas Hill, Order of the British Empire, OBE (22 July 1928 – 19 December 2015) was an English football in England, footballer and later a television personality. His career included almost every role in the sport, including pla ...

, who took Coventry to a 14th-place finish in 1961–62. He later managed Chelmsford City. He led the "Clarets" to second and fifth-place finishes in the Southern League in 1963–64 and 1964–65. He later worked as a teacher until retiring in 1977.

Career statistics

Playing statistics

Managerial statistics

Source:

Honours

Coventry City *

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 ...

: 1935–36 *

Football League Fourth Division The Football League Fourth Division was the fourth-highest division in the English football league system from the 1958–59 season until the creation of the Premier League prior to the 1992–93 season. Following the creation of the Premier ...

second-place promotion: 1958–59

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Frith, Billy 1912 births 1996 deaths Footballers from Sheffield Men's association football wing halves English men's footballers Worksop Town F.C. players Mansfield Town F.C. players Chesterfield F.C. players Coventry City F.C. players Port Vale F.C. players English Football League players English football managers Port Vale F.C. managers Coventry City F.C. managers Stafford Rangers F.C. managers Chelmsford City F.C. managers English Football League managers Southern Football League managers English football coaches English schoolteachers 20th-century English sportsmen