Bill Purves

William Purves
Personal information
Full name William Michael Purves
Date of birth 1870
Place of birth Belfast, Ireland
Date of death Unknown
Position Right back
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
18??–1893 Glentoran
1893–1897 Birmingham[a] 40 (0)
1897–1??? Glentoran
International career
1894–1898 Irish League 3 (0)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals

William Michael Purves (1870 – after 1900) was an Irish professional footballer who played as a right back. He made 40 appearances in the Football League, playing for Small Heath in the 1890s.[1] He played three times for the Irish League representative team.[2][3]

Purves was born in Belfast and played for Glentoran before coming to England to join Small Heath[4] in March 1894. He played in the last three matches of the 1893–94 Football League regular season and in the test match that confirmed their ascent to the First Division.[1][5] He played every game of the club's first top-flight season, but lost his place to Frank Lester in 1895–96[6] and returned to Glentoran. From 1900 he acted as Glentoran's trainer.[4]

Notes

  1. ↑ The Matthews source misattributes to Purves a League appearance made by Bernard Pumfrey on 30 December 1893, some time before Purves joined Small Heath.

References

  1. 1 2 "Purves, W (William)". English National Football Archive. Retrieved 16 March 2020.
  2. ↑ Joyce, Michael (2004). Football League Players' Records 1888 to 1939. Nottingham: SoccerData. p. 214. ISBN 978-1-899468-67-6.
  3. ↑ jcd. "Irish League representative match line-ups". Northern Ireland's Footballing Greats (NIFG). Retrieved 13 January 2025.
  4. 1 2 Matthews, Tony (1995). Birmingham City: A Complete Record. Derby: Breedon Books. p. 118. ISBN 978-1-85983-010-9.
  5. ↑ "Small Heath". Football Club History Database. Richard Rundle. Retrieved 11 February 2009.
  6. ↑ Matthews, pp. 142–143.


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