Fred Spiksley

Frederick Spiksley (25 January 1870 – 28 July 1948) was an English footballer and coach, who played as a forward for Sheffield Wednesday and England. He also played for Gainsborough Trinity, Glossop North End, Leeds City, Watford. After retiring as a player in 1906, he worked as a coach and won national league titles in Sweden, Mexico and Germany. During the First World War he was arrested but escaped from a German Police prison.

Fred Spiksley
Personal information
Full name Frederick Spiksley
Date of birth (1870-01-25)25 January 1870
Place of birth Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, England
Date of death 28 July 1948(1948-07-28) (aged 78)
Place of death Goodwood Racecourse, England
Position(s) Outside Left
Youth career
1883-c.1886 Holy Trinity School, Gainsborough
c. 1884 Eclipse
1887 Gainsborough Jubilee Swifts
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1886 Gainsborough Working Men's Club
1886 Gainsborough Wednesday
1887–1891 Gainsborough Trinity
1891–1903 Wednesday 293 (100)
1904 Glossop North End 3 (1)
1905 Leeds City 7 (0)
1905–1906 Southern United ? (?)
1906 Watford 11 (5)
International career
1893–1898 England 7 (7)
Managerial career
1910 IFK Norrköping
1911 AIK Stockholm
1911 Sweden
1911–1912 MTV Munich 1879
1912–1914 1. FC Nürnberg
1922–1924 Reforma AC
1922–1924 Real Club España
1926–1927 1. FC Nürnberg
1928 Lausanne Sports
1931 CF Badalona
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Early and personal life

Spiksley was born in Gainsborough, the son of a boilermaker.[1] He was married to Ellen with a son, Fred Jr.[1] He and Ellen later divorced due to his adultery.[1] Spiksley was also a gambler who suffered heavy losses and was made bankrupt in 1909.[1]

Playing career
Spiksley in 1896 as part of The Wednesday's FA Cup team.

After playing for local teams in Gainsborough, including Gainsborough Trinity (for whom he had scored 131 goals in 126 appearances), he signed for Wednesday in 1891.[1] His later career was marred by injury (including a serious knee injury in 1903) and he played for Leeds City, Southern United and Watford.[1]

He was also an England international, scoring hat-tricks for his country on both his debut against Wales and second appearance against Scotland, both in 1893.[1]

Coaching career

After retiring as a player Spiskley joined the Fred Karen Company, and worked in a theatre with Charlie Chaplin.[1] He then became a football coach who worked in Sweden, Germany, France, Switzerland, Belgium, Spain, the United States, Peru and Mexico, as well as in England.[1]

After World War I broke out, he was coaching in Germany and was held in police prison for three days along with his son.[1] His wife managed to secure their release, and the family moved to Switzerland.[1] He then returned to England but was deemed unfit to serve in the War due to his earlier knee injury, which Spiksley exacerbated by dislocating his knee at will to fool the medical examiner.[1] He spent the war working in Sheffield as a munitions inspector,[2] resuming his coaching career after the war ended.[1]

He ended his career coaching at the King Edward VII School in Sheffield.[1]

Playing style

Spiksley was a "slight and silky winger" who was described as the "fastest man in football" by his England international team-mate Billy Bassett.[1]

Later life and death

Spiksley and his wife divorced due to his adultery.[1] He died from a heart attack at the age of 78 whilst attending Ladies' Day at Goodwood Racecourse in 1948.[1]

References
  1. "Fred Spiksley: The remarkable life of a forgotten England star". BBC Sport. 13 November 2019.
  2. "The forgotten story of … Fred Spiksley, wing wizard, film star and POW escapee | Simon Burnton". The Guardian. 28 July 2017. Retrieved 16 November 2022.
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