Percy Prince (15 August 1887 – December 1973) was an English amateur

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 ...

who played as a

centre-forward In the sport of association football, a forward (attacker or striker) is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position which primarily plays further up the pitch than Midfielder, midfielders and Defender (association football), d ...

for

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

and

Boscombe Boscombe () is a suburb in Bournemouth England. Historically in Hampshire, but today in Dorset, it is located to the east of Bournemouth town centre and west of Southbourne. Originally a sparsely inhabited area of heathland, from around 1865 ...

in the early 20th century.

Football career

Prince was born in

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 ...

but was raised in

and played his club football on

Southampton Common Southampton Common is a large open space to the north of the city centre of Southampton, England. It is bounded by the districts of Shirley, Bassett, Highfield and Portswood. The area supports a large variety of wildlife, including one of t ...

, while working in the Merchant Navy. He was signed by Southern League

as an amateur in 1907 and made his first team debut away to New Brompton on 17 October 1908. In the next match, against

Millwall Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Poplar, north of Greenwich and Deptford, east of ...

he scored in a 4–1 victory at The Dell, but made only one further appearance that season, followed by two further appearances at the end of the 1909–10 season, scoring in both matches. He was the first-choice centre-forward at the start of the next season, scoring in a 3–0 victory over

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

on 10 September 1910, before losing his place to

Sid Kimpton Gabriel Sibley "Sid" Kimpton, also known as George Kimpton, (12 August 1887 – 15 February 1968) was an English football player, who spent his entire playing career with Southampton and subsequently became a manager in Europe coaching DFC Prag ...

. Described as a ''"sharp-shooting centre-forward, keen and enthusiastic "'' but with a genial nature, ''"there was none more zealous in the interests of the team".'' He was known as "Peewee" to his teammates. He finally became established in the side, playing at

inside left 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 be ...

in December 1911, taking over from Andrew Gibson, but after a run of nine games in which he scored twice, Prince lost his place back to Gibson. In March 1912 Gibson was suspended (along with Henry Hamilton) for a "serious breach of club discipline", as a result of which both players were placed on the transfer list. This led to Prince's restoration to the team which he marked by scoring four goals in three matches. In the 1912–13 season, Prince only missed eight matches scoring eleven league goals, making him the club's top scorer for the season. In the following season, he continued to be a regular starter but was pushed out onto the wing in more of a supporting role to

Len Andrews Leonard Thomas Alford Andrews (9 December 1888 – 21 January 1969) was an English professional Association football, footballer who played as an Striker (association football), inside forward. During his career he had two spells with both Sou ...

and

Arthur Dominy Arthur Albert Dominy (11 February 1893 – 23 September 1974) was an English professional footballer, who played as an inside-forward, and football manager, spending most of his career with Southampton. Playing career Southampton He played h ...

, and his scoring ability faded before he lost his place in January 1914 to Bill Smith, who in turn was replaced by Arthur Hollins. In the summer of 1914, Prince was released by Southampton and joined

in the

Hampshire League The Hampshire League was a football league in Hampshire, England. During its heyday its constitution consisted of four divisions with over 60 clubs taking part - this included a vast number of semi-professional teams and Reserve/’A’ sides o ...

. The outbreak of

World War I 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 ...

interrupted his career but he turned out occasionally for Boscombe during the wartime period until returning to

in 1917, where he played for his former club in the wartime leagues. At the cessation of hostilities, Prince re-joined

in August 1919 and made four further appearances. in place of Bert Fenwick in the Saints' final Southern League. Prince was now playing at half back and his final appearance was in a 2–6 defeat at The Dell by

Northampton Town Northampton Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Northampton, England. The team competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 1897, the c ...

on 25 October 1919. Although he did not make further appearances in the first team, Prince continued to play for the reserves, gaining Hampshire League and Senior Cup medals, as well as gaining representative honours with Hampshire. He returned to

in November 1920, before retiring the following summer.

Life outside football

Prince was employed by the

Cunard Line The Cunard Line ( ) is a British shipping and an international cruise line based at Carnival House at Southampton, England, operated by Carnival UK and owned by Carnival Corporation & plc. Since 2011, Cunard and its four ships have been r ...

for 32 years and in 1930 he moved to New York City as assistant catering officer, servicing the trans-Atlantic

ocean liner An ocean liner is a type of passenger ship primarily used for transportation across seas or oceans. Ocean liners may also carry cargo or mail, and may sometimes be used for other purposes (such as for pleasure cruises or as hospital ships). The ...

s from Southampton, including and . Prince retired in 1952, and continued to live in Rutherford, New Jersey, where he died in December 1973 at Bergen Pines Hospital in nearby

Paramus Paramus ( Waggoner, Walter H, ''The New York Times'', February 16, 1966. Accessed October 16, 2018. "Paramus – pronounced puh-RAHM-us, with the accent on the second syllable – may have taken its name from 'perremus' or 'perymus,' Indian for ...

.Staff
"Percy Prince"
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', 5 December 1973. Accessed 19 November 2017. "Percy Prince, who headed foodstuffs purchasing here for the Cunard Line at his retirement in 1952, died Monday in Bergen Pines Hospital, Paramus, N.J. He was 86 years old and lived at 65 Yahara Avenue in Rutherford, N.J."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Prince, Percy 1887 births 1973 deaths English men's footballers Southern Football League players Southampton F.C. players AFC Bournemouth players Footballers from Liverpool Men's association football forwards Men's association football midfielders