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 ...

who played as a

centre-forward Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

for

Southampton Southampton () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire, S ...

and

Boscombe Boscombe is a suburb of 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 B ...

in the early 20th century.

Football career

Prince was born in

Liverpool Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...

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 ...

, 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 Limehouse, north of Greenwich and Deptford, ea ...

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 and city status in the United Kingdom, city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is admi ...

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. Playing career K ...

. 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 Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

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 footballer who played as an inside forward. During his career he had two spells with both Southampton and Reading, as well as playing for Watford. ...

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 hi ...

, 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 (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

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 Herbert Fenwick (1900 – 1961) was an English professional footballer who played as a half back for Southampton in their final season in the Southern League in 1919–20. Football career Fenwick was born in Wallsend and trained as a boilerm ...

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 plays in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1897, the club competed in the Midland L ...

on 25 October 1919. Although he was not to 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 Cunard () is a British shipping and cruise line based at Carnival House at Southampton, England, operated by Carnival UK and owned by Carnival Corporation & plc. Since 2011, Cunard and its three ships have been registered in Hamilton, Ber ...

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 passenger ship primarily used as a form of 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). C ...

s from Southampton, including

RMS Aquitania RMS ''Aquitania'' was a British ocean liner of the Cunard Line in service from 1914 to 1950. She was designed by Leonard Peskett and built by John Brown & Company in Clydebank, Scotland. She was launched on 21 April 1913 and sailed on her maiden ...

and

RMS Queen Mary Royal Mail Ship, RMS ''Queen Mary'' is a retired British ocean liner that sailed primarily on the North Atlantic Ocean from 1936 to 1967 for the Cunard-White Star Line and was built by John Brown & Company in Clydebank, Scotland. ''Queen Mary ...

. Prince retired in 1952, and continued to live in

Rutherford, New Jersey Rutherford is a Borough (New Jersey), borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, the borough's population was 18,834. Rutherford was formed as a borough by an act of the ...

, 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'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', 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 footballers Southern Football League players Southampton F.C. players AFC Bournemouth players Footballers from Liverpool People from Rutherford, New Jersey Association football forwards Association football midfielders