John Frederick Halliday (19 April 1880 – 20 May 1953) 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 ...

and

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who played as a full back 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

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club ( ) is a professional association football, football club based in Horwich, Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the Englis ...

and

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 ...

. He went on to manage

Bradford Park Avenue Bradford (Park Avenue) Association Football Club, sometimes abbreviated as BPA AFC, is an association football club based in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. The team currently competes in , at the eighth tier of the English football league ...

and

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West (London sub region), West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the River Thames, Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has dive ...

. He was posthumously inducted into the Brentford

Hall of Fame A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or Wiktionary:fame, fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actu ...

in 2015.

Playing career

Halliday began his career as an

amateur An amateur () is generally considered a person who pursues an avocation independent from their source of income. Amateurs and their pursuits are also described as popular, informal, autodidacticism, self-taught, user-generated, do it yourself, DI ...

at local club

Chester Chester is a cathedral city in Cheshire, England, on the River Dee, Wales, River Dee, close to the England–Wales border. With a built-up area population of 92,760 in 2021, it is the most populous settlement in the borough of Cheshire West an ...

, playing in

The Combination The Combination was a league during the early days of English football. It had two incarnations; the first ran only for the 1888–89 season for teams across Northern England and the Midlands, and was disbanded before completion. The second ...

. He transferred to

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 ...

club

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 ...

in April 1898, but failed to make a first team appearance. Prior to his release from Liverpool on a free transfer, Halliday played for Lancashire League club

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' ...

. He joined cross-city rivals Everton in 1900, but failed to make an appearance for the Toffees before moving to

in 1901. Halliday left Bolton Wanderers at the end of the 1902–03 season, after the club's relegation to the

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 ...

was confirmed. He moved to newly founded Second Division club

prior to the beginning of the 1903–04 season. He made 72 appearances in the

and two

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 ...

appearances for Bradford and departed

Valley Parade Valley Parade, currently known as University of Bradford Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is an all-seater association football, football stadium in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. The stadium was built in 1886 as the home of Manningham F.C. ...

in 1907.

Management career

Bradford Park Avenue

Halliday became manager of Southern League First Division club

in May 1907, guiding the club to a mid-table finish in the 1907–08 season. He made one playing appearance for the club as an emergency

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

in a match versus

Swindon Town Swindon Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team, known as the "Robins", currently compete in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded as Swindon A ...

, when regular keeper Tom Baddersley missed his train. He departed

Park Avenue Park Avenue is a boulevard in New York City that carries north and southbound traffic in the borough (New York City), boroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx. For most of the road's length in Manhattan, it runs parallel to Madison Avenue to the wes ...

after the season.

Brentford

First spell (1908–1912)

Halliday joined Southern League First Division club

as manager in June 1908, taking over from W. G. Brown. Halliday's team had a disastrous 1908–09 campaign in the league, finishing bottom (though avoiding relegation to the Second Division), but he brought

silverware Silverware may refer to: * Household silver including **Tableware, dishes used for serving or eating food **Cutlery, hand implements used for serving or eating food **Candlestick, a device used to hold a candle in place *The work of a silversmith * ...

to the club, winning the Southern Professional Charity Cup. He led the Bees to a mid-table finishes in the 1909–10, 1910–11 and 1911–12 seasons. He carried on into the 1912–13 season, but with the club still in relegation trouble, Halliday stepped down in November 1912 and became the club's secretary. He was replaced by one of his players, Ephraim Rhodes.

Second spell (1915–1921)

Halliday stepped up to become Brentford manager for the second time in August 1915, replacing Ephraim Rhodes, who was inducted into the

army An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by ...

. The break-out 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 ...

in August 1914 led the Football League and Southern League to decide to cease operations at the end of the 1914–15 season until the end of hostilities, so Halliday took charge of a Brentford team playing in the unofficial War League and the newly formed

London Combination The Football Combination was a football competition for the reserve teams of English Football League clubs from Southern England, the Midlands and Wales; other clubs from the Midlands and those from the North playing in the Central League (it is ...

. He managed the club in both leagues during the 1915–16, 1916–17, 1917–18 and 1918–19 seasons and won the London Combination title in the latter campaign. Competitive football returned for the 1919–20 season and Halliday's Bees were elected back to the Southern League First Division, finishing in mid-table. Brentford won election to the Football League as founding members of the Third Division for the 1920–21 season. An unsuccessful season saw the Bees finish second-from-bottom and Halliday stepped down at the end of the campaign to return to administrative duties. He was replaced by

Archie Mitchell Archie Mitchell is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', played by Larry Lamb. He first appeared on 8 July 2008 as a newest member of the Mitchell family—who had first appeared on the soap in 1990—and became the show ...

Third spell (1924–1926)

After Archie Mitchell's sacking in December 1924, Halliday took over the manager's job for the third time. Another second-from-bottom finish followed in the 1924–25 season. An 18th-place finish followed in the 1925–26 season, after which Halliday left the Bees permanently. He managed the club in 334 matches, winning 108, drawing 70 and losing 156. Halliday was posthumously inducted into the Brentford

in 2015.

Career statistics

Playing career

Managerial career

Honours

As a manager

Brentford * Southern Professional Charity Cup: 1908–09 *

: 1918–19

As an individual

* Brentford Hall of Fame

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Halliday, Fred 1880 births 1953 deaths English men's footballers Footballers from Chester English football managers Chester City F.C. players Everton F.C. players Liverpool F.C. players Bolton Wanderers F.C. players Bradford City A.F.C. players English Football League players Men's association football fullbacks Bradford (Park Avenue) A.F.C. managers Brentford F.C. managers Southern Football League managers English Football League managers Bradford (Park Avenue) A.F.C. players Southern Football League players Crewe Alexandra F.C. players