Sam Chedgzoy

Infobox Football biography
playername= Sam Chedgzoy
fullname = Sam Chedgzoy
nickname =


dateofbirth = birth date |1889|1|27
cityofbirth = Ellesmere Port
countryofbirth = England
dateofdeath = death date and age|1967|1|7|1899|1|27
cityofdeath = Montreal
countryofdeath = Canada
height =
currentclub =
clubnumber =
position = Wing Forward
youthyears =
youthclubs =
years = 1910-1926
1926-1930
1930-1939
clubs = Everton
New Bedford Whalers
Montreal Carsteel
caps(goals) = 279 (33)
164 (21)
nationalyears =
nationalteam = England
nationalcaps(goals) = 008 0(0)
manageryears = 1924
1930-1940
managerclubs = Grenadier Guards
Montreal Carsteel
pcupdate =
ntupdate =

Sam Chedgzoy (27 January 1889 in Ellesmere Port, England; died 7 January 1967 in Montreal, Canada) was an English football player who changed the laws of the game. He played professionally for Everton F.C., the New Bedford Whalers and Montreal Carsteel. He also earned eight caps with the English national team.

Everton

Chedgzoy began his professional career with Everton F.C. in 1910, spending sixteen season with the Blues, predominantly was a right wing forward. Everton were runners up in the then top division, Division 1, in the 1911/12 season; and won the championship 1914/15. In total, Chedgzoy made 300 appearances (279 in league play) for Everton. He scored thirty-six goals, with thirty-three coming in league games.

Changing the laws of the game

In 1926, he changed the laws of the game when he scored by dribbling the ball in from a corner kick. Prior to 1924 a goal could "only" be scored from a corner kick if another player made contact with the ball. In that year, the Football Association (FA) changed the laws of football so that a goal could be scored directly from a corner kick (without another player touching the ball). However, the wording of the new law was vague. A Liverpool Echo sports journalist, Ernest Edwards, informed the Everton side of the lack of precision in the new rules. During a game against Tottenham Hotspur, Everton gained a corner kick that Chedgzoy took. Instead of crossing the ball in, he dribbled the ball into the penalty area and scored while the other players and referee looked on in shock - and then he successfully persuaded the referee that the rules permitted this way of scoring a goal. After deliberation by the FA, it was decided that the goal was legal, and the law was amended making it clear that the player taking the corner could only strike the ball "once" before another player must make contact. This ensures that corner kicks cannot become corner dribbles, but also permits a goal to be scored direct from a corner.

National team

Chedgzoy earned his first cap with England in a 2-1 loss to Wales on March 15, 1920. He went on play a total of eight games with England, his last a 3-1 victory over Northern Ireland on October 22, 1924. [ [http://www.englandfc.com/Profiles/php/PlayerProfileByName.php?id=219 Player Profile ] ]

American Soccer League

In 1926, Chedgzoy emigrated to the United States where he signed with New Bedford Whalers of the American Soccer League.

Canada

Chedgzoy gained his first taste of Canada while vacationing there in 1922. In 1924, he spent the English League off season as manager of the Grenadier Guards, a Canadian armed forces team which competed in the Interprovincial League. When he left the Whalers in 1930, Len Peto, owner of Montreal Carsteel hired Chedgzoy as the team’s player-coach. Carsteel played in the Canadian National Soccer League. In his ten years with the club, he took them to seven league finals, losing the first four before winning the 1936, 1939 and 1940 titles. He made his final appearance as a player for Carsteel in the Canadian Club Final in 1939 at the age of fifty. He remained in Montreal until his death.

Chedgzoy was inducted into the Canadian Soccer Hall of Fame in 2005.

References

External links

* [http://www.evertonfc.com/history/sam-chedgzoy.html Page on Chedgzoy from Everton F.C.'s web site]
* [http://www.soccer.on.ca/OSN.nsf/0/80a4b6d7fe534e4185256eef005854cb?OpenDocument "Cornered", another account from (Canada's) The Soccer Hall of Fame and Museum]
* [http://news.lowerislandsoccer.com/index.php?p=116 "Eleven New Members Inducted into the Ontario Soccer Association Hall of Fame", "Lower Island Soccer News", May 09, 2005]
* [http://www.thesoccerhalloffame.ca/OSN.nsf/c1bfa845a2dec3bf85256b0b005d4116/451d842c673293b885256fc0006898f8?OpenDocument Canadian National Soccer Hall of Fame profile]