Frank Moss (footballer, born 1895)

After beginning his career in local Birmingham football,[4] Moss joined First Division club Aston Villa for a £250 fee in February 1914 and made two appearances late in the 1914–15 season,[2] but he had to wait until after the First World War before he could begin his professional career in earnest.[2] During the war, Moss guested for Bellis and Morcom, Aston Park Rangers, Smethwick Carriage Works and Bradford City.[5] He captained the club and was a part of the Villa teams which won the 1919–20 FA Cup and finished runners-up in 1923–24.[2][6] After a dispute over a testimonial and a ban from the FA, Moss departed Villa Park in January 1929, after making 255 appearances and scoring 9 goals for the club.[6][2] He finished the 1928–29 season with First Division club Cardiff City and left to join Birmingham Combination club Bromsgrove Rovers as player-manager for the 1929–30 season.[6][7] Moss finished his career with Worcester City.[6]

Moss won five caps for England at international level and represented the Football League XI.[6]

Moss attended Burlington Street School in Aston and as of 1911 was working as a canal boatman.[8] He later married and had four children, two of whom became footballers – Amos and Frank Jr.[6] In November 1915, 15 months after Britain's entry into the First World War, Moss enlisted as a private in the Lincolnshire Regiment.[2] He saw action during the Third Battle of Ypres and shrapnel wounds to his left knee saw him sent back to Britain to be a physical training instructor.[2] Moss ended the war with the rank of corporal.[9] A decade after being wounded in the war, Moss declined the shrapnel being removed from his knee at the same time as undergoing a knee cartilage operation relating to his football career.[8] The shrapnel remained in his knee until his death in 1965.[8] According to a 1939 register, Moss was the licensed victualler of a hostelry in Worcester.[6]

Aston Villa

• FA Cup: 1919–20[6]