William Henry Heames (July 1869 – 1939) 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 in the

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for Burslem Port Vale and

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. A left-winger, he had an eleven-year career, scoring 28 goals in 249 games in all competitions. His sole honour was a

Staffordshire Senior Cup The Staffordshire Senior Challenge Cup is a football cup tournament based in the county of Staffordshire in England first competed for in 1877–78 (then under Sheffield Rules. Organised by the Staffordshire Football Association, it is competed ...

win with Vale in 1898.

Career

Heames played for Middleport Athletic before he joined

in 1893. He made his debut in the

in a 4–1 defeat at

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an off ...

on 7 December 1894. This was only appearance in the 1893–94 campaign before he forced his way into the side at the start of the 1894–95 season, making ten appearances at outside-left. However, Joe Schofield swapped wings and Heames fell out of favour. He scored his first senior goal on 17 November 1894, in a 4–2 defeat by

Small Heath Small Heath is an inner-city area in south-east Birmingham, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England situated on and around the Coventry Road about from the city centre. History Small Heath, which has been settled and used since Roman t ...

Muntz Street Muntz Street is the popular name of a former association football stadium situated in the Small Heath, Birmingham, Small Heath district of Birmingham, England, taken from the street on which it stood. During its lifetime the ground was known as ...

. He featured just twice in 1895–96, scoring one goal in a 5–0 win over

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at the

Victoria Ground The Victoria Ground was the home ground of Stoke City from 1878 until 1997, when the club relocated to the Britannia Stadium after 119 years. At the time of its demolition it was the oldest operational ground in the Football League. Histor ...

. He was limited to three

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appearances in 1896–97. Heames joined nearby

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side Burslem Port Vale in the summer of 1897. He was a member of the side that lifted the

in 1898. At the end of the season the club was re-admitted into the Second Division. He went on to make 43 appearances in the 1898–99 season, scoring once in a 1–1 draw with

Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

at the Athletic Ground. He hit eight goals in 39 games in 1899–1900, and then three goals in 36 games in 1900–01. He scored five goals in 38 appearances in 1901–02, including goals against Woolwich Arsenal and

Newton Heath Newton Heath is an area of Manchester, England, north-east of Manchester city centre and with a population of 9,883. Historically part of Lancashire, Newton was formerly a farming area, but adopted the factory system following the Industrial ...

(later renamed Manchester United). Heames scored twice in 35 games in 1902–03 and four times in 38 games in 1903–04 but refused to re-sign for the club in the summer of 1904, thus leaving the club after amassing 254 appearances (191 in the football league) and 28 goals (18 in the football league).

Career statistics

Source: ;Note: Not including

Birmingham Senior Cup The Birmingham Senior Cup is a regional Association football, football competition for Birmingham County FA club teams, organised by the Birmingham County Football Association. It began in 1876 and is the oldest County Football Association, count ...

appearances.

Honours

Burslem Port Vale *

: 1898

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Heames, Billy 1869 births 1939 deaths Footballers from Staffordshire Men's association football wingers English men's footballers Stoke City F.C. players Port Vale F.C. players English Football League players 19th-century English sportsmen 20th-century English sportsmen