Alf Bishop (footballer, born 1902)
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Alfred Bishop[1] | ||
| Date of birth | 17 July 1902 | ||
| Place of birth | Aston, England | ||
| Date of death | 5 March 1944 (aged 41) | ||
| Place of death | Birmingham, England | ||
| Height | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) | ||
| Playing position | Inside forward | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Royal Air Force | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1925–1926 | St Albans City | 21 | (10) |
| 1926–1927 | Southampton | 7 | (0) |
| 1927 | Wellington Town | ||
| 1927–1928 | Cradley Heath St Luke's | ||
| 1928 | Barrow | 11 | (2) |
| 1928–1929 | Cradley Heath | ||
| 1929–1930 | Wellington Town | ||
| 1930 | Leamington Town | ||
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only | |||
Alfred Bishop (17 July 1902 – 5 March 1944)[2] was an English footballer who played as an inside-forward in the 1920s and 1930s.
Football career
Bishop joined the RAF as a 16-year-old cadet in 1919. He was originally spotted by scouts from Southampton in 1923 while playing representative football for the Royal Air Force and was given a trial, although he was not then offered a contract[1] because of his RAF service commitments. After spending a year with St Albans City of the Isthmian League, he left the RAF and signed for Southampton in August 1926.[1]
In the summer of 1926, the "Saints" manager Arthur Chadwick had signed several new players, including Dick Rowley and Sammy Taylor, both of whom could play in either of the inside-forward positions. After trying first Rowley and then Bishop at inside-left (for four games), Chadwick recalled Frank Matthews for three games in September, moving Bishop over to the right for a further three games, before Rowley returned at inside-right.[3] The form of Rowley and Taylor prevented Bishop regaining his place in the first-team, and he spent the remainder of his Saints' career in the reserves, where he made 23 appearances before his contract was cancelled in January 1927.[1]
After a period in non-league football, he briefly resurrected his League career with a season in the Third Division North with Barrow. He then returned to the lower leagues with Cradley Heath of the semi-professional Birmingham & District League, before spells with Wellington Town, where he scored 36 goals in the 1929–30 season, Leamington Town,[1] Stafford Rangers and Bromsgrove Rovers in 1931. He ended his playing career as an amateur for BSA (Birmingham) in 1932 and Billesley Estates in 1936.[2]
Later career
Bishop later worked at the Birmingham Small Arms (BSA) factories in Birmingham and Stoke-on-Trent. He rejoined the RAF at the outbreak of World War II, serving as an aircraft gunner in France. He died of tuberculosis in 1944, aged 41.[2]
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 Holley, Duncan; Chalk, Gary (1992). The Alphabet of the Saints. ACL & Polar Publishing. p. 33. ISBN 0-9514862-3-3.
- 1 2 3 Chalk, Gary; Holley, Duncan; Bull, David (2013). All the Saints: A Complete Players' Who's Who of Southampton FC. Southampton: Hagiology Publishing. p. 16. ISBN 978-0-9926-8640-6.
- ↑ Chalk, Gary; Holley, Duncan (1987). Saints – A complete record. Breedon Books. pp. 76–77. ISBN 0-907969-22-4.