William James Lilley (born 1885, date of death unknown) was a

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

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

for both

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The club competes in the Championship, the second tier of English football. They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history ...

and Rotherham Town 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, it is the oldest football league in the world, and was the top-level football league in England from ...

Career

Born in Staveley in

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire to the north, Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south-east, Staffordshire to the south a ...

, England he began his career alongside his older brother

Harry Harry may refer to: Television * ''Harry'' (American TV series), 1987 comedy series starring Alan Arkin * ''Harry'' (British TV series), 1993 BBC drama that ran for two seasons * ''Harry'' (New Zealand TV series), 2013 crime drama starring Oscar K ...

with local side Staveley Lowgates in 1887 and would go on to follow his sibling from club-to-club until 1894. The pair moved to the town's senior side Staveley with whom Will played for three years, appearing in the

Midland Counties League The Midland Football League was a semi-professional football league in England. It acted as a feeder league to the Football League for many years before merging with the Yorkshire League in 1982 to form the Northern Counties East League. Histo ...

for the club. Harry left for

in the summer of 1890 but Will remained at Staveley for a further season. He was eventually transferred in November 1891 and had been intending to join

The Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an off ...

who had offered him a contract, but influenced by his brother he instead opted to join him at their cross-city rivals

when the opportunity arose. Lilley competed with established keeper Charlie Howlett for a starting position in the first team but more often than not lost out to his rival. Despite this he remained with United for two and a half seasons and had the distinction of being in goal for their first ever game in

against Lincoln City in September 1892. Both Lilley and his older brother Harry played their final first team game for United in April 1894 with Will having played in 25 league and three

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

games for the club, and remarkably for a keeper having scored three goals. Older brother Harry opted to retire from football at that point but Will played on for another season, transferring to Rotherham Town for whom he played nine times in The Football League.

Honours

Football League Division Two 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 ...

**Runner-up: 1892–93

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lilley, Will 1885 births Footballers from Staveley, Derbyshire English men's footballers Men's association football goalkeepers Staveley F.C. players Sheffield United F.C. players Rotherham Town F.C. (1878) players English Football League players Year of death missing Northern Football League players