Herbert Charles Lawrence Kingaby (1880-1934) 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 ...
, an
outside right
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 ...
The Manchester Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
, ''FOOTBALL PROFESSIONAL'S LAWSUIT''; 27 March 1912 for
Clapton Orient,
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 ...
,
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
Peterborough City.
He played part-time for Clapton Orient, in the
Southern League before
being sold to Aston Villa for £300 (''2012: £'') in
March 1906. At the time the fee was undisclosed even to the player.
Villa signed Kingaby for the
football maximum wage of £4 a week but after two months were unimpressed with his ability. Villa was not willing to lose the £300 by allowing a free transfer. They offered to sell Herbert back at half price but neither Clapton, nor any other club were interested. Kingaby's wage was stopped but he was placed on Villa's retained players' list effectively preventing him earning a living in the
English League, so he joined Fulham back in the Southern League.
[David McArdle, LLB ]PhD
A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...
,
The Football League's player registration scheme and the Kingaby case
'', accessed 16 December 2012
He rejoined Clapton Orient at the start of the
1910-11 season. That year the Football League and the Southern League agreed mutual recognition of each other's
retain-and-transfer system. Villa now disclosed that Kingaby was still on their retained players' list and demanded £350. This prevented a move to
Croydon Common but he eventually joined Peterborough City.
Kingaby case
In
March 1912,
Charles Sutcliffe
Charles Edward Sutcliffe (8 July 1864 – 11 January 1939) was a British lawyer, football administrator and referee.
Football career
Sutcliffe played for Burnley during the 1880s, but retired by the mid-decade.. He retained a role at the club, jo ...
helped establish the legality of the league transfer system when he was successfully retained by Aston Villa during the Kingaby case before
Justice A.T. Lawrence.
Kingaby had brought legal proceedings against Villa for preventing him from playing. The
Players' Union funded his legal costs but an erroneous strategy by Kingaby's counsel resulted in the suit being dismissed.
The Union were almost ruined financially and membership fell drastically.
References
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