Billy Mosforth

William Mosforth (1859 – 11 July 1929) was an English football player. He played for several Sheffield clubs but in his later career played mainly for Sheffield Wednesday before finally settling at United. He was capped for England 9 times, scoring 3 goals between 1878 and 1882. Both were records at the time. [cite web|url=http://www.englandstats.com/playerreport.php?pid=692|title=Player Report - Billy Mosforth|accessdate=2008-01-26]

Early life and career

Mosforth was born in Sheffield in 1859. He grew to 5 foot 4 inches (163 cm) and became known as the 'Little Wonder'. His first club was Sheffield Albion but was famous for swapping sides and profiteering from his play. [cite book|last=Farnsworth|first=Keith|title=Sheffield Football: A History (1857-1961)|year=1995|pages=36-37|publisher=The Hallamshire Press|isbn=187471813] One anecdotal story says that when he ran on to the pitch in Hallam colours someone in the crowd shouted "10 bob and free drinks, Billy, if you'll change your shirt". He promptly ran back to the dressing room and returned in a Wednesday shirt.

He first played for the Sheffield Football Association in 1876 at the age of 18.cite book|last=Farnsworth|first=Keith|title=Wednesday!|year=1982|pages=27-30|publisher=Sheffield City Libraries|isbn=09000660872] He was capped for England a year later in a match against Scotland. He went on to play regularly for both. He also played in the first floodlit match that was played at Bramall Lane.

In 1879 he played for The Zulus a touring side created to aid families of casualties of the Zulu War. The side became embroiled in controversy when it was revealed that the players were to make money themselves (a practice illegal at the time). He debuted for Wednesday on 18 December 1880 and went on to play for them 25 times scoring 6 times.

Like many of the Wednesday players who were involved in the Zulu team, Mosforth was also one of the players who pushed them into becoming professional team. He played for the break-away team (Sheffield Rovers) that intended to become Sheffield's first professional side but returned to the Wednesday fold after professionalism was agreed upon. He went on to score the first goal at Olive Grove.

He became a United player upon its creation in 1889 and alongside Jack Hudson became the first player to play for both of Sheffield's major clubs. He spent one more year as a footballer with them and made 28 appearances, scoring 6 goals. The last appearance of his career was for Sheffield United against Staveley on 17 March 1890.

Playing style

Billy Mosforth was considered the best local player during his era. A major feature of his style was his outstanding ball control. He was known for long dribbles sometimes taking it the entire length of the pitch.

He was also a leading exponent of the "screw shot" that allowed him to bend the ball in the air, [cite web|url=http://www.11v11.com/index.php?pageID=476|title=Football History|accessdate=2008-01-27] a technique that was developed in Sheffield at the time and is now commonplace in the game. He was also well noted for his ability to cross the ball.

References