The footballer Billy Meredith, c. 1909

Description

Billy Meredith, 'The Welsh Wizard', (1874-1958), was born at Chirk, Denbighshire, on 24 July 1874. The son of a mining family, Meredith began working at the Black Park Colliery as a pony driver and 'hutcher' when he was twelve years of age. By the 1890s his footballing skills had become apparent and he joined the ranks of Chirk's successful first-team, winning his first Welsh Cup medal in 1894. Following a brief period as a semi-professional at Wrexham, and as a professional with Northwich Victoria in the English 2nd Division, Meredith joined Manchester City in late 1894. However, he continued working underground during the week until 1896, when his club finally insisted that he give up his colliery job.
From 1896 until his retirement in 1924, he remained a full-time professional, playing for both Manchester City and Manchester United. During this period, he made over 650 league appearances, played 53 FA Cup ties, appeared for Wales on 50 occasions and scored almost 200 goals. Meredith's achievements on the field made him an extremely popular footballer: in 1904 he was voted footballer of the year by the readers of one newspaper.
However, his actions off the field also attracted attention. In March 1904 he was accused of attempting to bribe an opposing player to deliberately lose a vital league match. He was banned from the game for a period but re-emerged in 1907 when he also played a prominent role in the efforts to re-establish a football players' union. Meredith's come-back with Manchester United proved extremely successful; moreover, in March 1907 he led his country's first-ever Home International Championship victory.