Josiah Preston (1885 – after 1909) 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 ...

born in

Derby Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby gain ...

who played in

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

for

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the We ...

. Preston played for Derby Midland and

Burton United Burton United Football Club was a football club based in Burton upon Trent in England. The club was established in 1901 by a merger of Burton Swifts and Burton Wanderers, and played their last competitive season in 1910. In 1924 they merged with ...

before joining Birmingham in 1908. Described as "a strong and solid reserve", he was one of several full backs vying to succeed Frank Stokes and

Watty Corbett Walter Samuel Corbett (26 November 1880 – 23 November 1960), nicknamed "Watty", was an English footballer and member of the United Kingdom team which won the gold medal in the 1908 Summer Olympics. Corbett, born in Wellington, Shropsh ...

, who were coming to the end of their careers. He had a run of seven games in the 1909–10 season, beginning with a 3–0 defeat at

Clapton Orient Leyton Orient Football Club is a professional football club based in Leyton, East London, England, who compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. They are the second oldest football club in London to play at a professio ...

on 20 November 1909,Matthews, p. 156. but returned to

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 s ...

the following year with

Halesowen Halesowen ( ) is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley, in the county of West Midlands, England. Historically an exclave of Shropshire and, from 1844, in Worcestershire, the town is around from Birmingham city centre, and fro ...

References

1885 births Year of death missing Footballers from Derby English men's footballers Men's association football fullbacks Derby Midland F.C. players Burton United F.C. players Birmingham City F.C. players Halesowen Town F.C. players English Football League players Date of birth missing Place of death missing {{England-footy-defender-1880s-stub