GoS: Player Details

BILL STRAUSS

Full Name: William Henry Strauss

Born: 06 January 1916

Came from: Aberdeen Went to: Retired

First game: 31 August 1946 Last game: 16 September 1953

Appearances: 166 (166/0) Goals: 42

Born in Benoni, in the modern-day Gauteng region (formerly within the Transvaal province) of South Africa, Strauss moved to Britain in 1935 arriving on board the SS Arundel Castle.

Strauss was a dashing left-winger who was spotted by the Dons shortly after his arrival in Britain. He played a major part in the Dons' run to the 1936-37 Scottish FA Cup Final, but was injured in the semi-final, which meant he missed out on the big day, which saw a 2-1 defeat to Celtic in front of a record 144,000 at Hampden Park. It was a popular belief that if Strauss was in the Final line up the Dons would have won. During the War, Strauss reached the rank of Lieutenant in the British Army, serving in the Royal Signal and the Commandos.

He had also once briefly 'gone missing' for Aberdeen. The team enjoyed a night out at the Aberdeen Tivoli Theatre where magician Chris Charlton topped the bill in December 1936. Strauss was wheeled onto stage in a small car and placed within a small garage, which was raised above ground and then the sides of the garage removed to show that both the car and its occupant Strauss, had vanished. Strauss was too good a sport to reveal how it was done - if he knew. All he would say was that he could see the audience all the time. The Aberdeen trainer, Donald Colman, who had worn a frown for the rest of the performance was also said to be relieved when Strauss re-joined the team at the end of the show! Colman himself is also credited as the inventor of the dug-out in football, marked by a commemorative plaque to him on King Street, Aberdeen.

In total, Strauss played 100 times and scored 56 times for Aberdeen, across five seasons, punctuated by the Second World War. During the war years he also made two guest appearances for Clapton Orient in 1941-42.

Strauss moved to Argyle in 1946 after Jack Tresadern saw him playing for Aberdeen, having travelled to check out a different player. He was an instant hit at Home Park, his unorthodox style and outstanding ability delighting the home fans. He played on the left wing for Argyle for seven years, and during his career at Home Park he redefined the role of the winger, refusing to stay on the touchline and roaming towards his preferred centre-forward position. He also possessed a venomous shot, which explained his success at goalscoring throughout his career.

He was also an all-round sportsman who excelled at badminton and cricket, playing for Plymouth Cricket Club and Minor Counties for Devon, whilst at Home Park, notably scoring a century in 1950 at The Oval against Surrey Second XI.

Whilst there is no conclusive proof that Strauss was ever capped fully by South Africa, he did play for his nation in representative matches in the UK, including, towards the end of his career, in 1953 for an Anglo-South African XI versus a South Africa touring team, scoring one of the goals in a 6-1 victory at Highbury.

After four seasons of regular first team games at Home Park, age began to catch up with him and his senior appearances were limited in his final three seasons at the club. He was awarded a Testimonial in May 1951, against his old club Aberdeen, at Home Park, in an entertaining 2-2 draw in which Strauss scored one of the Argyle goals, in front of an impressive 11,586.

He did go on to manage a further nine appearances and one goal in the 1951-1952 Division Three (South) championship-winning campaign. He didn't play the following season and only twice early in the 1953-54 season before eventually retiring, aged 37 in 1953. In total, Strauss's Home Park journey encompassed seven seasons and the tenures of both Tresadern and Jimmy Rae.

Following retirement he remained in Plymouth, well known within the city, working for a time in administrative roles at Home Park. He also worked for the local Gas Board, before taking over as landlord of the Tandem Inn in the Octagon, on Union Street. Strauss passed away in Plymouth in November 1984, aged 68 years old.

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By Brian Knight* in Cheltenham on 08/05/2014 ...

It was fortunate for the game's journalists that Bill Strauss chose to make his football career as a winger. Those images of Strauss 'waltzing' around the opposition or 'dancing' his way along the touchline, so apt when it came to describing his wing play, would have been totally inappropriate if applied to some dour, unyielding defender. But although Strauss' nimble footwork put many an opposing full¬back to the test, he was never content to confine his skills to the extremities of the pitch. Bill Strauss cutting into the middle with the ball, or dashing in to meet a centre from the other wing, was one of the most cheering sights for Argyle supporters in the seasons just after World War Two. Indeed, at one point in 1946-7, he and his opposite wingman Sid Rawlings threatened to monopolise the scoring. Strauss, who scored 11 League goals that season, would have added more, had injury not forced him to miss half the season. Strauss was 30 when he joined Argyle from Aberdeen in 1946 and this meant that his career at Home Park was necessarily shortened. He effectively dropped out of the first-team reckoning in 1950, in favour of the younger Alex Govan, but he was still considered worthy of a couple of first-team games in 1953, at the age of 37.

Strauss was born in Transvaal, South Africa, on 6 January 1916 and arrived in Britain on the SS Arundel Castle in December 1935, to begin his career in football with Aberdeen, the club to whom he had been recommended by a former Dons' player, Eddie Swan. Strauss broke into the first team at the start of 1936-7 and went on to play a major part in Aberdeen reaching the Scottish Cup Final for the first time. When war was declared he joined the Royal Signals and was later commissioned in the Commandos. He rejoined Aberdeen after the war and it was while he was playing for them in a Scottish League Cup semi-final that he was noticed by Plymouth manager Jack Tresadern, who had gone to check on another forward.

So began Strauss' career at Home Park. His signing for Argyle also benefited other sports in the area, for he was an all-round games player who had starred at cricket and badminton whilst with Aberdeen. He played for Plymouth Cricket Club for a number of years and for Devon in the Minor Counties Championship, scoring a century against Surrey 2nd XI at The Oval. After he retired from football in 1954, Bill Strauss became landlord of a public house in the Octagon, Union Street, Plymouth. He died in 1984.

*Extracted from Plymouth Argyle - A Complete Record 1903-1989 by Brian Knight [ISBN 0 907969 40 2] and reproduced with his kind permission.

Close above

From Brian Knight in Cheltenham on 10/05/2014 ...

Soon after his arrival at Home Park, the annual Argyle handbooks described Strauss as a South African international, one specifically stating that his cap (or caps) came against England in 1939. This is wrong on two accounts. There was no international between the two countries that year. What did happen was that an FA squad toured South Africa in the summer of 1939 and played three representative games against the home country. They were not classified as international matches and the South African sides consisted of home-based players only. Strauss was then of course in Aberdeen. Curiously, ... More

APPEARANCE DETAILS [reselect competitions]

The details below reflect appearances in all first-team competitions.