Fred Pagnam (4 September 1891 – 1 March 1962) 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 ...

and

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

. Pagnam 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 ...

in the

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 ...

for clubs

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 ...

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside town in Lancashire, England. It is located on the Irish Sea coast of the Fylde peninsula, approximately north of Liverpool and west of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. It is the main settlement in the Borough of Blackpool ...

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

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 ...

Cardiff City Cardiff City Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It currently competes in , the third tier of the English football league system in the 2025–26 season following relegation. Founded in 1899 a ...

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 ...

, and in

non-league football Non-League football describes association football, football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is ...

for

Lytham Lytham St Annes () is a seaside town in the Borough of Fylde in Lancashire, England. It is on the The Fylde, Fylde coast, directly south of Blackpool on the Ribble Estuary. The population of the built-up area at the 2021 United Kingdom census, ...

, Blackpool Wednesday,

Doncaster Rovers Doncaster Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The team currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system after winning the 202 ...

, Southport Central and

Gainsborough Trinity Gainsborough Trinity Football Club is a Association football, football club based in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, England. Established in 1873, the club became members of the English Football League, Football League i ...

. As manager, he took charge of Watford,

Galatasaray Galatasaray Spor Kulübü (, ''Galatasaray Sports Club''), more commonly referred to as simply Galatasaray and familiarly as Cimbom, is a Turkish sports club based on the European side of the city of Istanbul including basketball, wheelchair ...

, the Turkey national team, and several clubs in the Netherlands.

Playing career

Pagnam, the son of a bank manager, was born in

Poulton-le-Fylde Poulton-le-Fylde (), commonly shortened to Poulton, is a market town in Lancashire, England, situated on the coastal plain called the Fylde. In the 2021 United Kingdom census, it had a population of 18,115. There is evidence of human habitatio ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

, where he attended Baines Grammar School. He played football for Birchall Boys' Club and for

non-league Non-League football describes association football, football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is ...

clubs

and Blackpool Wednesday before joining

in 1910. He played for the reserves but not for the first team, and after a spell with

of the

Midland League The Midland Football League, officially known as the Capelli Sport Midland Football League since January 2025 for sponsorship reasons, is an English football league that was founded in 2014 by the merger of the former Midland Alliance and Midl ...

, he joined Southport Central of

the Central League The Central League is one of the two baseball leagues constituting Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan. Central League may also refer to: Association football (soccer) leagues * Central League (England) - an association football league in Engla ...

. By early 1913, the club was struggling financially, and the directors offered the players a choice: a wage cut or a free transfer. Pagnam took the latter, and moved on to

. He scored just once in 23

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 ...

appearances, spent time with another Midland League team,

, and signed for

in 1914. Pagnam scored on his Reds debut, against Chelsea on 10 October 1914, and scored four against

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 ...

a couple of weeks later. He went on to score 26 goals that season and was Liverpool's top scorer. His time at Liverpool coincided with a conspiracy by some Liverpool players to rig a match with

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 ...

. This was in order to profit from betting on the result, in what became known as the

1915 British football betting scandal The 1915 British football betting scandal occurred when a Football League First Division match between Manchester United and Liverpool at Old Trafford on 2 April (Good Friday) 1915 was fixed in United's favour, with players from both sides benefit ...

. Pagnam refused to take part in the conspiracy and even threatened to score a goal to ruin the prearranged result. United won 2–0 as agreed, but four Liverpool players and three United players were eventually found guilty of match-fixing by

the Football Association The Football Association (the FA) is the Sports governing body, governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Bailiwick of Guernsey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the oldest footb ...

, with Pagnam testifying against his teammates. The outbreak of the

First World War 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 ...

meant competitive football was suspended at the end of the 1914–15 season. Pagnam continued to play for Liverpool during the war, as well as making guest appearances for teams including

Belfast Celtic Belfast Celtic Football Club was an Irish football club. Founded in 1891 in Belfast, it was one of the most successful teams in Ireland until it withdrew permanently from the Irish League in 1949. The club left the league for political reaso ...

and Blackpool. When football resumed after hostilities ceased, he played only eight more matches for the club before being sold to Arsenal for a £1,500 fee in October 1919. Pagnam made his Arsenal debut against

Bradford City Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The club competes in , the third tier of English football, and is managed by Graham Alexander. The club was founded in 1903 and ...

on 25 October 1919. He was moderately prolific in his first season, scoring twelve League goals, although Harry White finished higher in the scoring charts. The next season, 1920–21, Pagnam finished as Arsenal's top scorer with 14 goals, despite having been sold to

in March 1921 for £3,000Arsenal were quite strapped for cash at the time. In all he scored 27 goals in 53 appearances for Arsenal. Select season required. He lasted just nine months at Cardiff. His six goals from 14 appearances helped them gain promotion to the

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 ...

in their first season in the Football League, but he was less successful at the higher level, and moved on to

of the Third Division South in December 1921 for a club-record fee of £1,000. In five seasons and 144 league matches, he scored 67 goals (74 from 157 appearances in all competitions) for Watford, and was the Third Division South top scorer in 1922–23 with 30 goals.

Managerial career

In 1926, Pagnam became Watford's manager; he spent three years in the job but achieved little. Watford finished 21st out of 22 in his first season but improved to 8th in 1928–29. After leaving Watford, he managed

and the Turkey national team. Pagnam then coached in the Netherlands at DWV,

HVV Den Haag HVV (Haagse Voetbal Vereniging; Dutch for The Hague Football Club) is an amateur football club in The Hague, Netherlands. It was founded in 1883 as an extension of HCC, (The)'' Hague Cricket Club''. In 1978, on the occasion of the club's cent ...

De Volewijckers ASC De Volewijckers is a Dutch football club that plays in the Vierde Klasse. It is a continuation of ASV–DWV and AVV De Volewijckers. History ASV–DWV ASV-DWV or Door Wilskracht Verkregen was founded on 12 May 1912 in present-day Amsterda ...

HFC Haarlem HFC Haarlem was a Dutch football club from the city of Haarlem, established in 1889 and dissolved in 2010. The club won the Eredivisie in 1946 and reached five Cup finals, winning in 1902 and 1912. Haarlem reached the second round of the 1982� ...

and CVV Vriendenschaar.

Personal life

Pagnam served in the

Royal Garrison Artillery The Royal Garrison Artillery (RGA) was formed in 1899 as a distinct arm of the British Army's Royal Artillery, Royal Regiment of Artillery serving alongside the other two arms of the Regiment, the Royal Field Artillery (RFA) and the Royal Horse ...

and the

London Regiment London Regiment may refer to two infantry regiments in the British Army: * London Regiment (1908–1938) The London Regiment was an infantry regiment in the British Army, part of the Territorial Force (renamed the Territorial Army in 1921). Th ...

during the

. He was declared a

deserter Desertion is the abandonment of a military duty or Military base, post without permission (a Pass (military), pass, Shore leave, liberty or Leave (U.S. military), leave) and is done with the intention of not returning. This contrasts with u ...

on 20 April 1918. At the outbreak of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, he returned to the UK with his Dutch wife to run a pub. Pagnam died in 1962 aged 70.

Honours

As a player

Watford * Third Division South top scorer: 1922–23

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pagnam, Fred 1891 births 1962 deaths Military personnel from Lancashire People from Poulton-le-Fylde English men's footballers Men's association football forwards Lytham F.C. players Blackpool F.C. players Huddersfield Town A.F.C. players Doncaster Rovers F.C. players Southport F.C. players Gainsborough Trinity F.C. players Liverpool F.C. players Arsenal F.C. players Cardiff City F.C. players Watford F.C. players English Football League players Arsenal F.C. wartime guest players Blackpool F.C. wartime guest players English football managers Watford F.C. managers Galatasaray S.K. (football) managers Turkey national football team managers HVV Den Haag managers AFC DWS managers English Football League managers Expatriate football managers in Turkey Expatriate football managers in the Netherlands English expatriate football managers ASC De Volewijckers managers British Army personnel of World War I Royal Garrison Artillery soldiers London Regiment soldiers Deserters English expatriate sportspeople in Turkey 20th-century English sportsmen