William John Kirton (2 December 1895 – 27 September 1970) was a

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 ...

in the early years of professional football in England, who played over 200 games for

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club (commonly referred to as simply Villa) is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club, founded in 1874, compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The team have p ...

and is best known for scoring the only goal in the 1920 FA Cup Final.

Football career

Kirton was born in

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne, or simply Newcastle ( , Received Pronunciation, RP: ), is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is England's northernmost metropolitan borough, located o ...

. Kirton was a member of the

Temperance Society The temperance movement is a social movement promoting temperance or total abstinence from consumption of alcoholic beverages. Participants in the movement typically criticize alcohol intoxication or promote teetotalism, and its leaders emphasi ...

and played for Pandon Temperance before joining

Leeds City Leeds City Football Club was the leading professional club in Leeds, England, before the First World War. The club was highly successful in the wartime football league; however, it faced sanction for paying its players during wartime which had b ...

in May 1919. After Kirton had played only one game for the club, City went out of business and he was transferred to Aston Villa for £500 in October 1919. He played 261 matches for Aston Villa.https://www.avfchistory.co.uk/player/billy-kirton In the 1919–20 season Aston Villa enjoyed a successful run in 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 ...

beating QPR (2-1),

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

(2-1),

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...

(1-0),

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 ...

(1-0) and Chelsea (3-1). Aston Villa played

Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional association football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. They compete in , the third tier of English football league system, English football. Huddersfield Town we ...

in the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

Stamford Bridge Stamford Bridge may refer to: * Stamford Bridge, East Riding of Yorkshire, a village in England ** Battle of Stamford Bridge, 25 September 1066 * Stamford Bridge (bridge), a bridge in the village of Stamford Bridge * Stamford Bridge (stadium), in ...

. Kirton scored the only goal of the game and Villa won the cup for the sixth time in its history. Kirton won his first and only international cap for

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

against

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

on 22 October 1921, scoring England's only goal in a 1–1 draw. Kirton, a talented inside-forward, formed a productive partnership with

Clem Stephenson Clement Stephenson (6 February 1890 – 24 October 1961) was an English footballer whose 20-year career at Aston Villa and Huddersfield Town included success in both the FA Cup and League Championship. Stephenson's place in history as an inside ...

. A teetotaller and non-smoker, he scored 59 goals in 261 appearances before signing for

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 September 1928. However, he failed to score for his new club in 16 games and left to join

Kidderminster Harriers Kidderminster Harriers Football Club are a professional association football club based in Kidderminster, Worcestershire, England. The team competes in the National League North, the sixth level of the English football league system. Formed in ...

. After retiring from professional football, Kirton ran a

newsagent's shop A newsagent's shop or simply newsagent's or paper shop (British English), newsagency (Australian English) or newsstand ( American and Canadian English) is a business that sells newspapers, magazines, cigarettes, snacks and often items of loca ...

Great Barr Great Barr is a large and loosely defined area to the north-west of Birmingham, in the county of the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. The area was historically in Staffordshire, and the parts now in Birmingham were once known as ...

, Birmingham. Kirton died in

Sutton Coldfield Sutton Coldfield or the Royal Town of Sutton Coldfield ( ), is a town and civil parish in the city of Birmingham, West Midlands County, West Midlands, England. The town lies around 8 miles northeast of Birmingham city centre, 9 miles south of L ...

on 27 September 1970.

References

Billy Kirton's Bio
Aston Villa F.C. players Leeds City F.C. players Coventry City F.C. players Kidderminster Harriers F.C. players English men's footballers England men's international footballers 1896 births Footballers from Newcastle upon Tyne 1970 deaths People from Great Barr Men's association football inside forwards 20th-century English sportsmen {{England-footy-forward-1890s-stub