Bert Shelley

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Bert Shelley
Personal information
Full name Frederick Albert Shelley
Date of birth(1899-08-11)11 August 1899
Place of birth Romsey, England
Date of death 29 December 1971(1971-12-29) (aged 72)
Place of death Anfield, Liverpool, England
Height 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)
Position(s) Half back
Youth career
Romsey Comrades
1915–1919 Military football
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
1919 Eastleigh Athletic
1919–1932 Southampton 410 (9)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Frederick Albert "Bert" Shelley (11 August 1899 – 29 December 1971) was an English footballer, who played as a half back for Southampton, for whom he made nearly 450 appearances, before becoming a coach at Southampton. His total of 448 appearances remained a club record until passed by Tommy Traynor in the mid-1960s. [1]

Contents

Military career

Shelley was born in Romsey, Hampshire and after starting in local football, had a distinguished career in military football whilst serving in India and Egypt during the First World War. In India, he served with the 2nd/5th Hampshire Territorials and was a member of the Battalion side which reached the semi-finals of the Calcutta Cup tournament in 1915. By 1918, he was in Egypt with the 1st/4th Wiltshires with whom he won the Divisional Cup. [1]

Football career

Following his demobilisation, he signed for Eastleigh Athletic in November 1919, [1] but within weeks had signed for Southampton who were trying to rebuild their side in readiness for their entry into the newly formed Football League Third Division South at the end of the season. After spending a few months in the reserves, Shelley was given his big chance in the first team when Arthur Andrews broke his leg in an FA Cup tie at West Ham in January 1920. In the absence of a recognised right-half, the directors were pondering buying a replacement but they were persuaded by the club trainer, former England right-half Bert Lee, to "give the young Shelley a chance". [1]

Shelley made his debut in the Southern League in a 2–2 home draw with Cardiff City on 17 January 1920. [2] He made the most of his opportunity and kept his place for the last 18 games of the season, playing on the losing side only five times as the team consolidated itself and went on to finish in eighth position in their last season in the Southern League. [2] He rapidly gained considerable repute as a consistent, reliable half-back in the "stopper mould", having the knack of smothering opposing forwards by his ability to anticipate and intercept through-balls. [1]

In 1920, the Saints were elected to the Football League Third Division for its inaugural season, in which Shelley missed only three matches, forming a good relationship with Bill Turner at left-half, with Alec Campbell or George Moorhead at centre-half. Although they finished second in the league, Southampton missed out on the only promotion spot to Crystal Palace. [3] Under manager Jimmy McIntyre, Saints went one better in 1921–22, finishing equal on points with Plymouth Argyle but with a superior goal average, with Shelly and Turner both ever-present. [4]

The half back line of Shelley, Campbell and Turner cemented Saints place in the Second Division over the next few years, until Campbell lost his place to George Harkus in March 1924. [5] By the start of the 1924–25 season, Turner had left the club, and Campbell had regained his place in the centre with Harkus moving to the left. In November 1924, Shelley missed a match for the first time since the end of the 1920–21 season, thus ending a run of 141 consecutive appearances, covering three whole seasons. [6]

In December 1924, Saints' poor league form led to the resignation of manager Jimmy McIntyre. Caretaker manager George Goss led them on a run in the FA Cup, defeating Liverpool in round 4, to reach the semi-final at Stamford Bridge, where they were defeated 2–0 by Sheffield United on 28 March 1925, with Shelley playing in all five cup matches. For the 1925–26 season, Saints appointed Arthur Chadwick as manager, but his arrival made only a moderate impact on the team's fortunes, finishing 14th in the table. Having hardly missed a game since his debut in January 1920, Shelley lost his place in December 1925, with Harkus taking over at right-half alongside Arthur Bradford and Stan Woodhouse, before Shelley was recalled for the last two matches of the season. [7]

In the 1926–27 season, Chadwick settled on his favoured line-up with eleven players featuring in at least 35 of the 42 league games; this included a half back line-up of Shelley, Harkus (in the centre) and Woodhouse on the left, in front of full-backs Michael Keeping and Ted Hough. Despite the settled look of the side, the Saints struggled in the league, but had a great run to the semi-final of the 1927 FA Cup, defeating Newcastle United on the way. In the semi-final, played at Stamford Bridge on 26 March 1927, Saints were eliminated 2–1 by Arsenal with Saints' goal coming from Bill Rawlings. In this match, Saints came up against their former star full-back Tom Parker who had had a nightmare in Saints' previous semi-final appearance two years earlier. This time Parker was on the winning side as Arsenal moved on to Wembley, losing to Cardiff City in the final. [8]

With occasional spells on the sidelines, Shelley retained his place at right-half for the next two seasons, but for 1929–30 his appearances were more irregular with, first, Bradford and then Arthur Wilson taking over. In the following season, Shelley had a long run at centre-half, with Harkus having left the club, before handing over to Johnny McIlwaine. [9] Shelley's final season was 1931–32 when he was used as cover for McIlwaine in the centre or Frank Campbell on the right, with his final appearance being away to Plymouth Argyle on 16 April 1932. [10]

Shelley was not selected for full international honours, but was a member of an F.A. XI which toured South Africa in 1929. [1]

In his long playing career for Southampton, he made 410 league and 38 FA Cup appearances, scoring nine goals. [1]

Coaching career

Following his retirement from playing, he remained at The Dell as coach to the club's first "nursery" team which competed in the Hampshire League. His success with the youngsters led to him being asked by manager George Kay to take over as first-team trainer following the retirement of his mentor, Bert Lee in 1935. [1]

Saints started the 1935–36 season (their fiftieth season since the club's foundation in 1885) with four wins and two draws from their first six matches, but were unable to sustain this form and in the period to the New Year they won only three more matches. [11] After another poor season, in which the Saints finished in seventeenth place, nine members of the board resigned and George Kay left to take over at Liverpool, taking Shelley with him. [11]

At Anfield, Shelley was a part of George Kay's coaching staff, helping the Reds take the English Football League championship in 1946–47. After Kay's retirement in 1951, Shelley remained a member of the coaching staff under Don Welsh until 1956. [1]

Shelley remained in Liverpool for the rest of his life, dying there in December 1971, aged 72. [1]

Honours

Southampton

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The 1920–21 season was the 26th season of competitive football by Southampton, and the club's first in the Football League. At the end of the previous season, Southampton were one of a host of Southern League clubs elected to make up the new Third Division, finishing second in the inaugural season behind champions Crystal Palace. The Saints began the season strongly, winning seven of their first ten games to begin a lengthy run at the top of the league table until the end of the year. The club began to lose against several teams lower in the table in December, dropping a position as Palace continued to win the majority of their games. Southampton finished the season in second place with 19 wins, 16 draws and seven losses, four points behind the champions and one point ahead of third-placed Queens Park Rangers.

The 1924–25 season was the 30th season of competitive football by Southampton, and the club's third in the Second Division of the Football League. Following the 1923–24 season, in which the club finished just three points shy of the First Division promotion places in fifth place, the Saints dropped two positions to finish seventh in the league. As with the last season, Southampton began their Second Division campaign poorly and found themselves at the bottom of the table after two losses in their first three games. The side continued to struggle to pick up wins, but steadily began making their way up the table over the next few months. A number of wins over the Christmas period and an eight-game unbeaten run at the end of the season helped Southampton finish in seventh place with 13 wins, 18 draws and 11 losses.

The 1926–27 season was the 32nd season of competitive football by Southampton, and the club's fifth in the Second Division of the Football League. After having their worst year in the division the previous season, Southampton began the 1926–27 league campaign in strong fashion and found themselves in amongst the promotion hopefuls by the end of the year, just two points off front-runners Middlesbrough. However, following a lengthy run in the FA Cup the club's form began to deteriorate, ending with a series of 13 games which included just one win. The Saints dropped from as high as the top six of the Second Division table to a mid-table position, ending the season in 13th place with 15 wins, 12 draws and 15 losses – just one position and four points higher than their 14th-place finish the previous season.

The 1930–31 season was the 36th season of competitive football by Southampton, and the club's ninth in the Second Division of the Football League. After securing their place as a top-half side in the Second Division over the past two seasons, the Saints began to lose their footing on the league and dropped to ninth in the division. The club failed to win any of their first four games of the campaign, briefly struggling to stay above the two relegation places, but had soon made their way to the top half of the division where they remained for the rest of the season. The Saints were unable to challenge for promotion to the First Division, however, briefly reaching the top five but remaining a long way off the top two sides. Southampton finished the season in ninth place in the table with 19 wins, six draws and 17 losses.

The 1931–32 season was the 37th season of competitive football by Southampton, and the club's tenth in the Second Division of the Football League. After finishing in the top half of the Second Division league table for the past three seasons, the Saints struggled to challenge in 1931–32 and ended up finishing in 14th place, closer to relegation than promotion. Southampton's first season with manager George Kay started strongly, as the team picked up four wins in their first five matches and reached the top of the Second Division league table for the first time in the club's history. Form quickly deteriorated, however, and the club was briefly involved in a fight for survival in the new year. After picking up a few more wins, Southampton secured their safety and finished in 14th place with 14 wins, 14 draws and 14 losses.

The 1936–37 season was the 42nd season of competitive football by Southampton and the club's 15th in the Second Division of the Football League. Another disappointing campaign marred by financial problems and personnel changes saw the Saints finishing 19th in the Second Division league table, equalling their worst performance in the flight set just two seasons previously in 1934–35. After picking up a few early wins and starting off around mid-table, the club's form worsened and they remained in the bottom half of the standings from late-November until the end of the season. Southampton finished the campaign with 11 wins, 12 draws and 19 losses in the league, which was exactly the same tally as 1934–35, but even closer to the relegation zone with just four points more than Bradford City in 21st place – the first demotion spot.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Holley, Duncan; Chalk, Gary (1992). The Alphabet of the Saints. ACL & Polar Publishing. pp. 303–305. ISBN   0-9514862-3-3.
  2. 1 2 Chalk, Gary; Holley, Duncan (1987). Saints – A complete record. Breedon Books. pp. 62–63. ISBN   0-907969-22-4.
  3. ↑ Saints – A complete record. pp. 64–65.
  4. ↑ Saints – A complete record. pp. 66–67.
  5. ↑ Saints – A complete record. pp. 70–71.
  6. ↑ Saints – A complete record. pp. 72–73.
  7. ↑ Saints – A complete record. pp. 74–75.
  8. ↑ Saints – A complete record. pp. 76–77.
  9. ↑ Saints – A complete record. pp. 84–85.
  10. ↑ Saints – A complete record. pp. 86–87.
  11. 1 2 Saints – A complete record. pp. 94–95.
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