Fred Spiksley (25 January 1870 – 28 July 1948) 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 ...

and coach, who played as a forward for

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot ...

and

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

. He also played for Gainsborough Trinity,

Glossop North End Glossop North End Association Football Club is a football club in Glossop, Derbyshire, England, which compete in the . Their home ground is Surrey Street, which has a capacity of 1,301 (200 seated, 1,101 standing). The club play in blue, and ar ...

, Leeds City,

Watford Watford () is a town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne, Hertfordshire, River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal en ...

. After retiring as a player in 1906, he worked as a coach and won national league titles in Sweden,

Mexico Mexico ( Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guate ...

and

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

. During the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fig ...

he was arrested but escaped from a German Police prison.

Early and personal life

Spiksley was born in

Gainsborough Gainsborough or Gainsboro may refer to: Places * Gainsborough, Ipswich, Suffolk, England ** Gainsborough Ward, Ipswich * Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, a town in England ** Gainsborough (UK Parliament constituency) * Gainsborough, New South Wales, ...

, the son of a boilermaker. He was married to Ellen with a son, Fred Jr. He and Ellen later divorced due to his adultery. Spiksley was also a gambler who suffered heavy losses and was made bankrupt in 1909.

Playing career

After playing for local teams in Gainsborough, including Gainsborough Trinity (for whom he had scored 131 goals in 126 appearances), he signed for

Wednesday Wednesday is the day of the week between Tuesday and Thursday. According to international standard ISO 8601, it is the third day of the week. In countries which have Friday as their holiday, Wednesday is the fifth day of the week. In countries ...

in 1891. His later career was marred by injury (including a serious knee injury in 1903) and he played for Leeds City, Southern United and

. He was also an England international.

Coaching career

After retiring as a player Spiskley joined the circus, and worked in a theatre with Charlie Chaplin. He then became a football coach who worked in Sweden, Germany, France, Switzerland, Belgium, Spain, the United States, Peru and Mexico, as well as in England. After World War I broke out, he was coaching in Germany and was held in

Ruhleben internment camp Ruhleben internment camp was a civilian detention camp in Germany during World War I. It was located in Ruhleben, a former '' Vorwerk'' manor to the west of Berlin, now split between the districts of Spandau and Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf. Th ...

along with his son. His wife managed to secure their release, and the family moved to Switzerland. He then returned to England but was deemed unfit to serve in the War due to his earlier knee injury, which Spiksley exacerbated by dislocating his knee at will to fool the medical examiner. He spent the war working in Sheffield as a munitions inspector, resuming his coaching career after the war ended. He ended his career coaching at the King Edward VII School in Sheffield.

Playing style

Spiksley was a "slight and silky winger" who was described as the "fastest man in football" by his England international team-mate

Billy Bassett William Isiah Bassett (27 January 1869 – 8 April 1937) was an English association footballer, director, and club chairman who served West Bromwich Albion for over half a century. Biography Playing career Born in West Bromwich, the eldest of ...

Later life and death

Spiksley and his wife divorced due to his adultery. He died from a heart attack at the age of 78 whilst attending Ladies' Day at

Goodwood Racecourse Goodwood Racecourse is a horse-racing track five miles north of Chichester, West Sussex, in England controlled by the family of the Duke of Richmond, whose seat is nearby Goodwood House. It hosts the annual Glorious Goodwood meeting in l ...

in 1948.

References

External links

*
Profile on englandfootballonline
{{DEFAULTSORT:Spiksley, Fred 1870 births 1948 deaths AIK Fotboll managers English footballers England international footballers English football managers Gainsborough Trinity F.C. players Sheffield Wednesday F.C. players Glossop North End A.F.C. players Leeds City F.C. players Watford F.C. players Fulham F.C. non-playing staff People from Gainsborough, Lincolnshire TSV 1860 Munich managers 1. FC Nürnberg managers FC Lausanne-Sport managers World War I civilian detainees held by Germany English expatriate football managers English Football League representative players English Football League players Association football midfielders Escapees from German detention FA Cup Final players