Ralph Shields (18 February 1892 – 21 November 1944) 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 ...

who played as a forward 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

Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional association football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. They compete in , the third tier of English football league system, English football. Huddersfield Town we ...

Exeter City Exeter City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Exeter, Devon, England. The team play in , the third level of the English football league system. Known as "the Grecians", the origin of their nickname is subject to ...

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 ...

Career

As a young man, Shields was a

miner A miner is a person who extracts ore, coal, chalk, clay, or other minerals from the earth through mining. There are two senses in which the term is used. In its narrowest sense, a miner is someone who works at the rock face (mining), face; cutt ...

, but played football for his local junior club Newbiggin Athletic in the Wansbeck League. In 1913, he was playing for Choppington Alliance when he was spotted by

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Since th ...

and was transferred to the club for a fee of £40 on 30 October 1913. Shields did not make a senior appearance for Newcastle United and in May 1914, Second Division club

paid a £100 fee for his signature. The following season, 1914–15, Shields was Huddersfield Town's leading goal scorer, with 16 goals in 29 appearances. The season after

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 ...

, 1919–20, he was part of the Huddersfield Town team which gained promotion from the Second Division to the First Division, making 13 appearances and scoring 3 goals. In December 1920, Shields was transferred to Third Division club

in a part-exchange deal for £2,000, plus William Wright. During the remainder of the 1920–21 season, he scored 4 goals in 19 appearances. In August 1921, he was transferred to Third Division South club

and made 9 appearances during the 1921–22 season, scoring one goal. This was his last season in the

. Shields played for

Sittingbourne Sittingbourne is an industrial town in the Swale district of Kent, southeast England, from Canterbury and from London, beside the Roman Watling Street, an ancient trackway used by the Romans and the Anglo-Saxons. The town stands next to th ...

in the Kent League for a number of seasons, before moving back to the North East to play for

Blyth Spartans Blyth Spartans Association Football Club is an association football club based in Blyth, Northumberland. They are currently members of and play at Croft Park. They were founded in September 1899 by Fred Stoker, who was the club's first secre ...

in the

North Eastern League The North Eastern League was an association football league for teams in the North East of England. The league was founded in 1906 and was initially successful, with teams defecting from the rival Northern Football Alliance to play. Although ...

Personal life

As with many footballers during World War I, Shields signed up to serve and did so as a bombardier in the

Royal Field Artillery The Royal Field Artillery (RFA) of the British Army provided close artillery support for the infantry. It was created as a distinct arm of the Royal Regiment of Artillery on 1 July 1899, serving alongside the other two arms of the regiment, the ...

. In October 1927, Shields and his family emigrated to Australia to build a new life in

Concord, New South Wales Concord is a suburb in the Inner West of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is west of the Sydney central business district, in the Local government in Australia, local government area of the City of Canada Bay. Concord West ...

. On 30 June 1940, 9 months after the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, he attested in the

Australian Army The Australian Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of Australia. It is a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF), along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. The Army is commanded by the Chief of Army ...

Paddington Paddington is an area in the City of Westminster, in central London, England. A medieval parish then a metropolitan borough of the County of London, it was integrated with Westminster and Greater London in 1965. Paddington station, designed b ...

and gave a false birth date of 11 September 1900, which produced an age just shy of the limit of 40. In 1942, while serving with the Australian Army Service Corps in Malaya, Shields was captured by the

Imperial Japanese Army The Imperial Japanese Army (IJA; , ''Dai-Nippon Teikoku Rikugun'', "Army of the Greater Japanese Empire") was the principal ground force of the Empire of Japan from 1871 to 1945. It played a central role in Japan’s rapid modernization during th ...

and interned as a

POW POW is "prisoner of war", a person, whether civilian or combatant, who is held in custody by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict. POW or pow may also refer to: Music * P.O.W (Bullet for My Valentine song), "P.O.W" (Bull ...

in Sandakan Prisoner of War Camp,

North Borneo North Borneo (usually known as British North Borneo, also known as the State of North Borneo) was a British Protectorate, British protectorate in the northern part of the island of Borneo, (present-day Sabah). The territory of North Borneo wa ...

. He died of

malnutrition Malnutrition occurs when an organism gets too few or too many nutrients, resulting in health problems. Specifically, it is a deficiency, excess, or imbalance of energy, protein and other nutrients which adversely affects the body's tissues a ...

and

beriberi Thiamine deficiency is a medical condition of low levels of thiamine (vitamin B1). A severe and chronic form is known as beriberi. The name beriberi was possibly borrowed in the 18th century from the Sinhalese phrase (bæri bæri, “I canno ...

on 21 November 1944 and was buried at the

Labuan War Cemetery Labuan War Cemetery () is a Commonwealth World War II graveyard in Labuan, Malaysia. The cemetery Many of the personnel buried in this cemetery, including Indian and Australian troops, were killed during the Japanese invasion of Borneo or th ...

in Malaysia.

Career statistics

Honours

Huddersfield Town *

Football League Second Division The Football League Second Division was the second level division in the English football league system between 1892 and 1992. Following the foundation of the FA Premier League, the Football League divisions were renumbered and the third tier ...

second-place promotion: 1919–20

References

* 99 Years & Counting – Stats & Stories – Huddersfield Town History {{DEFAULTSORT:Shields, Ralph 1892 births English men's footballers Footballers from Lanchester, County Durham Men's association football forwards English Football League players Newcastle United F.C. players Huddersfield Town A.F.C. players Exeter City F.C. players Brentford F.C. players Australian Army personnel of World War II Australian military personnel killed in World War II British Army personnel of World War I 1944 deaths English emigrants to Australia English miners Sittingbourne F.C. players Blyth Spartans A.F.C. players Fulham F.C. wartime guest players Royal Field Artillery soldiers Australian prisoners of war World War II prisoners of war held by Japan Australian people who died in prison custody Prisoners who died in Japanese detention British people imprisoned in Japan Australian Army soldiers Burials at Labuan War Cemetery Deaths by starvation Kent Football League (1894–1959) players 20th-century English sportsmen