Charlie Athersmith

Charlie Athersmith

Personal information
Full name	William Charles Athersmith
Date of birth	10 May 1872(1872-05-10)
Place of birth	Bloxwich, England
Date of death	18 September 1910(1910-09-18) (aged 38)
Place of death	Shifnal, England
Playing position	Winger
Youth career
1887–1888	Bloxwich Wanderers
1888–1890	Bloxwich Strollers
1890–1891	Unity Gas
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1891–1901	Aston Villa	269	(75)
1901–1905	Small Heath	100	(12)
National team
1892–1900	England	12	(3)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

William Charles "Charlie" Athersmith (10 May 1872 – 18 September 1910) was an English professional footballer who played as a winger.

Charlie Athersmith pictured in Aston Villa colours in 1897

Athersmith was born in Bloxwich, Staffordshire. He played the majority of his career at Aston Villa, making 307 appearances and scoring 85 goals.

Playing career

Aston Villa

While at Villa Athersmith played a key role in their title winning sides of 1894, 1896, 1897, 1899 and 1900 as well as reaching three F A cup finals, finishing on the losing side in 1892 before gaining winners medals in 1895 and Double-winning final of the 1896–97 season. Athersmith's time at Villa Park also saw him in the side who suffered a sensational F A cup exit against Millwall Athletic in 1900^[1]

Many Villa fans from the era often recalled a famous incident during a league game in 1901 against Sheffield United which was played in driving freezing rain. Many of the players, including the legendary United goalkeeper Willie Foulke suffered mild frostbite in the bitter conditions. Finally, early in the second half Charlie had had enough and borrowed an umbrella from a member of the crowd. Minutes later United's Ernie Needham went one better and took a great coat from a spectator. Athersmith, complete with umbrella later scored.^[2]

Small Heath

In 1901 he joined Small Heath, where he made 106 appearances and scored 13 goals.^[3]

Athersmith represented England at outside right on 12 occasions and scored three goals, each of which came against Ireland.

He died in Shifnal, Shropshire at the age of 38.

References

General

• Joyce, Michael (2004). Football League Players' Records 1888 to 1939. Nottingham: SoccerData (Tony Brown). ISBN 978-1-899468-67-6. 

Specific

1. ^ Match report Aston Villa vs Millwall Athletic 1900
2. ^ Athersmith and the umbrella
3. ^ Matthews, Tony (1995). Birmingham City: A Complete Record. Derby: Breedon Books. pp. pp. 148–151. ISBN 978-1-85983-010-9. 

External links

• Charlie Athersmith England profile at Englandstats

Persondata
Name	Athersmith, Charlie
Alternative names	Athersmith, William Charles
Short description	Professional footballer
Date of birth	10 May 1872
Place of birth	Bloxwich, Staffordshire, England
Date of death	18 September 1910
Place of death	Shifnal, Shropshire