Fred Briggs (1 May 1908 – 25 January 1998) was an English professional

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 as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

for

Rotherham United Rotherham United Football Club, nicknamed The Millers, is a professional association football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England. The team plays in EFL League One, the third tier of English football, after suffering relegation fr ...

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...

and

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

in the 1930s.

Playing career

Rotherham United

He was born in

Wombwell Wombwell () is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley in South Yorkshire, England. In the 2011 census, data for the town was split between the ward of Wombwell and small sections that fell into the wards of Darfield (specifically the a ...

and played as a youth for Mexborough Town and

before joining

Third Division North The Third Division North 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 South with clubs elected to the League or relegated from a higher division allocated to ...

team

in May 1932. Essentially a right winger, Briggs came into the side at the start of the 1932–33 season and played in nine of the opening ten games. His subsequent appearances were spread out, with six successive games being his best spell. He had only netted a couple of goals before he rounded off the season with a brace in the last game of the season, a 6–1 home victory over

Halifax Town FC Halifax Town is a professional association football club based in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England. They currently compete in the National League, the fifth level of English football league system. They replaced Halifax Town, who went i ...

. Following the arrival of

George Raynor George Sidney Raynor (13 January 1907 – 24 November 1985) was an English professional footballer and one of the most successful international football managers ever. One of his greatest achievements was taking the Sweden men's national footb ...

the next season, Briggs switched to

inside-forward In the sport of association football, a forward (attacker or striker) is an outfield position which primarily plays further up the pitch than midfielders and defenders. As with any attacking player, the role of the forward relies heavily on bei ...

missing just five league games; he stepped up his scoring rate, finding the net in four consecutive league games in March with seven goals in eight games. After the first six games of the 1934–35 season he lost his place to Roland Bastow and played just three more games, his last being a 2–2 home draw against

Crewe Alexandra Crewe Alexandra Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Crewe, Cheshire, England. Its first team competes in League Two, the fourth level of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Railwaymen' ...

on 15 December 1934. In his three years with the Millers, Briggs made a total of 80 appearances, scoring 18 goals.

Reading

He moved south to join

in June 1935, where he found first team opportunities scarce, making only 27 league appearances in three seasons.

Southampton

In May 1938, he was signed on a free transfer by

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

. Manager Tom Parker saw him as the ideal player to pair with

Harry Osman Harry James Osman (29 January 1911 – 17 December 1998) was an English footballer who played as an outside left for Southampton for two seasons in the 1930s and went on to become manager of Winchester City where he "discovered" future England ...

up front. Briggs made his first start on 24 September 1938 in a defeat at

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Since th ...

, but soon settled into the side, forming a "useful partnership" with

centre-forward In the sport of association football, a forward (attacker or striker) is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position which primarily plays further up the pitch than Midfielder, midfielders and Defender (association football), d ...

Reg Tomlinson. In a run of twelve matches from mid-October to Christmas, he scored ten goals including a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three Wick ...

at home to Swansea Town on 26 November. By the end of the season he was the Saints' top scorer with 14 goals.

Later career

The outbreak of war then brought Briggs's playing career to a premature end. Although he played for the "Saints" in the first wartime season, he moved on to guest for several clubs, including

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 ...

Accrington Stanley Accrington Stanley Football Club is a professional association football club based in Accrington, Lancashire, England, that compete in the , the fourth level of the English football league system. They have spent their entire history playing a ...

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies in a loop on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea, London, Chelsea ...

and

Watford Watford () is a town and non-metropolitan district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of Central London, on the banks of the River Colne, Hertfordshire, River Colne. Initially a smal ...

References

External links

Career details on www.11v11.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Briggs, Fred 1908 births 1998 deaths Footballers from Wombwell English men's footballers Mexborough Town F.C. players Rotherham United F.C. players Reading F.C. players Southampton F.C. players Fulham F.C. wartime guest players Watford F.C. wartime guest players Wrexham F.C. wartime guest players Accrington Stanley F.C. (1891) wartime guest players Men's association football forwards 20th-century English sportsmen