Cecil Bertram Potter (14 November 1888 – 17 October 1975) was an English professional

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 manager. Born in

West Hoathly West Hoathly is a village and civil parish in the Mid Sussex District of West Sussex, England, located south west of East Grinstead. In the 2001 census 2,121 people, of whom 1,150 were economically active, lived in 813 households. At the 201 ...

West Sussex West Sussex is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Surrey to the north, East Sussex to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Hampshire to the west. The largest settlement is Cr ...

, he played for Melton,

Ipswich Town Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. The club currently competes in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. Ipswich Town were founded in 1878 but did not turn ...

and

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club is a professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk, England. The club competes in the Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was founded in 1902. Since 1935, Norwich have played their h ...

. Potter served in

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, and played for Tottenham Hostpur during this period. After a spell with

Hull City Hull City Association Football Club is a professional association football club based in Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. They compete in the , the second level of the English football league system. They play their home ...

. He began his managerial career as a player-manager for Hartlepools United in 1920 and led the club into its inaugural

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 ...

season. He subsequently managed

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 ...

. He succeeded

Herbert Chapman Herbert Chapman (19 January 1878 – 6 January 1934) was an English Association football, football player and manager. Though he had an undistinguished playing career, he went on to become one of the most influential and successful manage ...

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 ...

and secured the club's third successive

First Division 1st Division or First Division may refer to: Military Airborne divisions *1st Parachute Division (Germany) *1st Airborne Division (United Kingdom) * 1st Airmobile Division (Ukraine) * 1st Guards Airborne Division Armoured divisions *1st Armoure ...

title. He left the club in 1926, joining former club Norwich City of the Third Division South, remaining in this role until 1929.

Early life and playing career

Cecil Bertram Potter was born on 14 November 1888 in

. He began his footballing career with local team Melton. Potter then signed for then-amateur club

. Ahead of the 1911–12 season, he signed for professional

Southern Football League The Southern League is a football competition featuring semi-professional clubs from East Anglia, the South and Midlands of England, and South Wales. Together with the Isthmian League and the Northern Premier League it forms levels seven a ...

club

after a successful trial. He played 133 times scoring 33 goals during his spell with Norwich.

interrupted Potter's footballing career. During the war, Potter served as a sergeant in the

Royal Flying Corps The Royal Flying Corps (RFC) was the air arm of the British Army before and during the First World War until it merged with the Royal Naval Air Service on 1 April 1918 to form the Royal Air Force. During the early part of the war, the RFC sup ...

. He played for the 17th Footballers' Battalion Middlesex Regiment as well as

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 ...

during this period. When the war ended, Potter earned a move to Second Division club

ahead of the 1919–20 season. He made ten appearances for Hull City in total.

Coaching career

On 1 May 1920, he was appointed as player-manager of

North Eastern League The North Eastern League was an association football league for teams in the North East of England. The league was founded in 1906 and was initially successful, with teams defecting from the rival Northern Football Alliance to play. Although ...

side Hartlepools United at the age of 31. Potter played for the club at half-back. In January 1921, Potter suffered a serious ankle injury, effectively ending his playing career. In March 1921, the club's directors took the decision to effectively demote Potter to secretary-manager in a surprise move. He led the club into their first season in the

and oversaw Hartlepools' first Football League match, a win against

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in the North East Wales, north-east of Wales. It lies between the Cambrian Mountains, Welsh mountains and the lower River Dee, Wales, Dee Valley, near the England–Wales border, borde ...

. The club experienced positive form during the winter period, eventually finishing their inaugural campaign in 4th position. He played one match for the club that season, 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 ...

. He left Hartlepools on 1 July 1922, taking a position at Second Division club

. Potter failed to earn promotion to the

and subsequently left the club. After working as a dairy farmer in Sussex, Potter succeeded

ahead of the 1925–26 season. Huddersfield had won the two previous First Division titles prior to Chapman's departure to

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

. Potter won a third successive First Division title for the club in his first season, finishing five points clear of Arsenal. However, Potter resigned the role in August 1926, citing 'failing health and that of his family'. He moved back into management in November 1926, joining former club Norwich City of the Third Division South. He left the club in January 1929 after a 5–0 FA Cup third round home defeat to amateur side

Corinthians The First Epistle to the Corinthians () is one of the Pauline epistles, part of the New Testament of the Christian Bible. The epistle is attributed to Paul the Apostle and a co-author, Sosthenes, and is addressed to the Christian church in C ...

. He died on 17 October 1975 in

Sutton Sutton (''south settlement'' or ''south town'' in Old English) may refer to: Places United Kingdom England In alphabetical order by county: * Sutton, Bedfordshire * Sutton, Berkshire, a List of United Kingdom locations: Stu-Sz#Su, location * S ...

at the age of 87.

Honours

As a manager

Huddersfield Town *

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 ...

: 1925–26

References

*99 Years & Counting — Stats & Stories — Huddersfield Town History 1888 births 1975 deaths English football managers People from Mid Sussex District Hartlepool United F.C. managers Derby County F.C. managers Huddersfield Town A.F.C. managers Norwich City F.C. managers English Football League managers {{England-footy-manager-stub

Early life and playing career

Coaching career

Honours

As a manager

See also

References