Fred White (footballer, born 1916)

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Fred White
Personal information
Full name Frederick White[1]
Date of birth (1916-12-05)5 December 1916[1]
Place of birth Wolverhampton, Staffordshire, England
Date of death 13 January 2007(2007-01-13) (aged 90)[2]
Place of death Sheffield, England[2]
Height 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)[2]
Position(s) Goalkeeper
Youth career
– Wolverhampton Boys
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
19??–1935 Wolverhampton Wanderers 0 (0)
1935–1937 Everton 0 (0)
1937–1950 Sheffield United 44 (0)
1939 → Wrexham (guest) 0 (0)
1939–1940 → Rotherham United (guest) 0 (0)
1942–1943 → Grimsby Town (guest) 0 (0)
1944–1945 → Mansfield Town (guest) 0 (0)
1944–1945 → Sheffield Wednesday (guest) 0 (0)
1945–1946 → Nottingham Forest (guest) 0 (0)
1950–1951 Lincoln City 42 (0)
1951–1952 Gainsborough Trinity
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Frederick White (5 December 1916 – January 2007) was an English footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Born in Wolverhampton he made 86 appearances in the Football League for Sheffield United and Lincoln City, as well as having spells with Wolverhampton Wanderers, Everton and Gainsborough Trinity.

Career[edit]

Playing career[edit]

White began his career as an amateur with Wolverhampton Wanderers but failed to make an appearance fir them in league football.[2] Despite this, after a glowing scouting report White was asked for a trial with fellow First Division club Everton,[3] for whom he duly signed in May 1935.[3] Once again White failed to make a league appearance for Everton's first and moved on to Sheffield United in May 1937 together with winger Charlie Leyfield.[4][5]

When White joined United, incumbent keeper Jack Smith was midway through a sequence of over 200 consecutive league appearances for the club so White was forced to bide his time in the reserves.[2] White was not to make a first team appearance until December 1939 during a wartime match against Sheffield Wednesday.[2] White played regularly for the Blades during the war along with guest appearances for Wrexham, Rotherham United, Grimsby Town, Mansfield Town, Sheffield Wednesday and Nottingham Forest.[2]

White finally made his Football League debut for Sheffield United in 1947, ten years after he signed for the club,[6] briefly establishing himself as first-choice goalkeeper, making 44 appearances for the Blades in the First and Second divisions. White lost his place in the first half of the 1949–50 season, and was transfer-listed at his own request in February 1950,[7] moving to Lincoln City for £200 in June 1950.[2] He spent the 1950–51 season with Lincoln playing in the Third Division North, missing only four first-team matches.[6] In August 1951 White moved into non-league football with Gainsborough Trinity,[1][8] where he remained for a season before being forced to retire through injury.[2]

Later career[edit]

Following his retirement from playing, White returned to Sheffield United to work part-time as a coach and later a coach between 1955 and 1970.[2] He later scouted for Leeds United before working for manager Jim Smith at a number of clubs.[2]

Personal life[edit]

White's father ran a construction company and it was there that White worked on essential construction work for the duration of World War II.[9] Following his retirement from playing in 1952, White became a salesman in the building trade while working part-time as part of Sheffield United's backroom staff. White was married to Margaret and the pair settled in Sheffield at the end of his playing career.[9] White died in January 2007 at the age of 90.[6]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c "Fred White". The Lincoln City FC Archive. Retrieved 8 April 2013.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Denis Clarebrough & Andrew Kirkham (2008). Sheffield United Who's Who. Hallamshire Press. pp. 342–343. ISBN 978-1-874718-69-7.
  3. ^ a b The Everton Football Club Co. Ltd. Minute Book No. 17. Everton F.C. 1935. pp. 109, 254.
  4. ^ "Sheffield United: 1946/47–2011/12". UK A–Z Transfers. Neil Brown. Retrieved 8 April 2013.
  5. ^ "Snaps from the Soccer Camps". Daily Mirror. 6 May 1937. p. 35.
  6. ^ a b c "Post-war Blades star Fred White dies, aged 90". The Sheffield Star. 24 January 2007.
  7. ^ "His club agree". Daily Mirror. 6 February 1950. p. 10.
  8. ^ "Lincoln City: 1946/47–1986/87 & 1988/89–2010/11". UK A–Z Transfers. Neil Brown. Retrieved 8 April 2013.
  9. ^ a b John, Garrett (16 November 2013). "Fred and White Army". Folklore and Fables. Up the Blades – the Official Matchday Programme of Sheffield United FC (10). Sheffield United F.C.: 14–15.
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