William Frith (9 June 1912 – 1996) was an English football player and manager. Starting his career with Worksop Town, Mansfield Town, and Chesterfield; he won a move to Coventry City in 1932. He stayed with the club right up until the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, 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 football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

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

Stafford Rangers Stafford Rangers Football Club is a semi-professional English football team from Stafford which plays in the Northern Premier League Premier Division. The team wear black and white stripes with black shorts. Stafford Rangers' rivals include T ...

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

Fourth Division Fourth or the fourth may refer to: * the ordinal form of the number 4 * ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971 * Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision * Fourth (music), a musical interval * ''The Fourth'' (1972 film), a Sovie ...

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 A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

for non-league sides Worksop Town and Mansfield Town. He transferred to Second Division side Chesterfield in 1932, scoring three goals in nine league games, before he moved on to Coventry City 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. 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 a total of 172 League appearances for Coventry City in two spells.

Managerial career

Port Vale

Frith was appointed manager 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 for 'fairly substantial fee', full-back Garth Butler from

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group. Founded in 1884 ...

, and half-back

Norman Hallam Norman Henry Hallam (23 October 1920 – 1997) was an English footballer. A half-back, he helped Port Vale to finish second in the Third Division North in 1952–53. Whilst at the club he became a Methodist minister. He later played for Halifa ...

from Chelsea. He sold goalkeeper

Arthur Jepson Arthur Jepson (12 July 1915 – 17 July 1997) was an English first-class cricketer who played for Nottinghamshire before becoming an umpire. In addition to cricket he was also an accomplished football goalkeeper who played over 100 games in t ...

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, which competes in the . Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, it changed its name to Stoke in 1878 and then to Stoke City in 1925 after Sto ...

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

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 F.C. for 106 years. History It was built in 1899 in the Hillfields district, close to the city centre, and staged its final game ...

as assistant to Dick Bayliss, and also played seven league games. Following Bayliss' death, Frith was appointed as manager of Coventry City in August 1947, remaining in that position until November 1948. He signed goalkeeper

Reg Matthews Reginald Derrick Matthews (20 December 1933 – 7 October 2001) was an English footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He was the most expensive goalkeeper at the time he signed for Chelsea in 1956 for £22,000. Club career In a playing career ...

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 zone under Harry Storer's stewardship. Following spells in charge at non-league clubs

and Rugby Town, he rejoined Coventry City as a coach and was once again appointed manager in September 1957. His side ended 1957–58 in nineteenth place in the Third Division South, and so were invited to become founder members of the

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 In sport, the Third Division, also called Division 3, Division Three, or Division III, is often the third-highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Association football *Belgian Thir ...

. 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 fifteenth 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 knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competit ...

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 located north of London, north-east of Peterborough, ...

, and Frith was sacked by chairman Derrick Robins. He was replaced by Jimmy Hill, who took Coventry to a fourteenth-place finish in 1961–62. He later managed Chelmsford City, and 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

Source: :A. The "Other" column constitutes appearances and goals in the League Cup,

Football League Trophy The English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship purposes as the Papa Johns Trophy after restaurant chain Papa John's Pizza, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL Leag ...

Football League play-offs The English Football League play-offs are a series of play-off matches contested by the four association football teams finishing immediately below the automatic promotion places in the second, third and fourth tiers of the English football leag ...

and Full Members Cup.

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 o ...

: 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. Whilst the division disappeared in name i ...

second-place promotion: 1958–59

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Frith, Billy 1912 births 1996 deaths Footballers from Sheffield Association football wing halves English 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 Association football coaches English schoolteachers