Wilfred Carter (19 June 1896 – 1 November 1975) was an English sportsman who played first-class

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

for

Derbyshire County Cricket Club Derbyshire County Cricket Club is one of eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Derbyshire. Its limited overs team is called the Derbyshire Falco ...

between 1920 and 1926 and

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

for

Watford Football Club Watford Football Club is a professional football club based in Watford, Hertfordshire, England. The club competes in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The team played at several grounds in their early history, includi ...

at the same time.

Life and career

Carter was born in

Annesley Annesley is a village and civil parish in the Ashfield district of Nottinghamshire, England, between Hucknall and Kirkby-in-Ashfield. At the 2011 census, it had a population of 1,162 (including Annesley Woodhouse to the west), and this inc ...

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated ''Notts.'') is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. The county is bordered by South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. Th ...

but the family moved to

Bolsover Bolsover is a market town and the administrative centre of the Bolsover District, Derbyshire, England. It is from Sheffield, from Nottingham and from Derby. It is the main town in the Bolsover district. The civil parish for the town is c ...

, Derbyshire. He made his first-class cricket debut for Derbyshire in the 1920 season against

Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire to the north, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire to the south-east, Warw ...

in which match he scored 25 and 19. He played regularly throughout the year. Also in 1920, he joined

Watford Watford () is a town and non-metropolitan district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of Central London, on the banks of the River Colne, Hertfordshire, River Colne. Initially a smal ...

as left

wing half In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

. His arrival coincided with Watford's entry into 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 the first time in their history. He was one of 20 players to play for the club competitively at both

Cassio Road Cassio Road, also known as the West Herts Sport Ground, is a multi use venue and sports ground in Watford, England. It was the home ground of Watford Football Club from 1898 to 1922 and has been the home ground of West Herts Football Club sinc ...

and

Vicarage Road Vicarage Road is a stadium in Watford, England, and is the home stadium of EFL Championship, Championship club Watford F.C., Watford. An all-seater stadium, its current capacity is 22,200. History It has been the home of Watford since 1922, w ...

. Carter scored his first half-century in the 1921 cricket season. In the 1922 season he achieved his record first-class score of 145 against Leicestershire when he and Anthony Jackson made an eighth-wicket partnership of 182, a record for the county which lasted until

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

. He also headed the Derbyshire batting averages in 1922. In the 1923 season he made 100 not out against

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire ( ; abbreviated Northants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Leicestershire, Rutland and Lincolnshire to the north, Cambridgeshire to the east, Bedfordshi ...

. He left the Derbyshire staff after the 1924 season. However he returned to play four matches for Derbyshire in the 1926 season.Wisden Obituaries 1975
/ref> Carter was a right-handed batsman and played 112 innings in 65 first-class matches with an average of 17.76 and a top score of 145. He was a right-arm bowler of slow donkey-drops and took 16 first-class wickets for an average of 44.18 and a best performance of 3 for 12.Wilfred Carter at Cricket Archive
/ref> Upon his retirement from cricket, Carter worked as a coach and scout for Watford. He was a coach at

Repton School Repton School is a 13–18 co-educational, private, boarding and day school in the public school tradition, in Repton, Derbyshire, England. Sir John Port of Etwall, on his death in 1557, left funds to create a grammar school which was th ...

in 1929 and 1930. He spent some years as professional at Drumpellier. Carter died at Shrodells Hospital,

at the age of 79.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Carter, Wilfred 1896 births 1975 deaths English men's footballers English cricketers Derbyshire cricketers Watford F.C. players English Football League players People from Annesley Footballers from Nottinghamshire Cricketers from Nottinghamshire Men's association football wing halves 20th-century English sportsmen