BILLY INGHAM

Full Name: William Ewart Ingham

Born: 25 February 1881

Came from: Gainsborough Trinity   Went to: Accrington Stanley

First game: 02 September 1907   Last game: 21 April 1909

Appearances: 80 (80/0)   Goals: 20

Born in Burnley, he initially played for Padiham in the Lancashire Combination League whilst working as a cotton twister in the factories of his home town, He then moved to begin his senior football career with ambitious Welsh side Aberdare Athletic, where he featured in the 1904-05 Welsh Cup Final against Wrexham at the Racecourse Ground, picking up a runners-up medal, as home advantage prevailed and Wrexham ran out 3-0 winners. He then joined West Ham United in 1903, spending just one season with the Hammers, making two appearances, before returning briefly to Aberdare. By then playing as a centre-forward, he spent the 1905-06 season with Bristol City, making a single appearance, before joining Gainsborough Trinity in 1906, during their spell as a Football League side, where he scored seven goals in 28 games.

Moving to Home Park in the summer of 1907, during a period when the club was 'managed by committee', he finished his first season as Argyle's top scorer and remained a regular in the starting line-up through much of the following campaign. The 1907-08 handbook described him as "sturdy, dashing and as a shot, hot stuff". He finished his time in green with a respectable 20 goals from 80 appearances, a goal every four games. In 1909 he left the club to return to the Lancashire Combination with Accrington Stanley, before the First World War brought his playing career to an end.

During the conflict he served as CSM (Company Sergeant Major) William Ewart Ingham (12669) in the East Lancashire Regiment. Tragically, the Leeds Mercury reported on 31 May 1921 that his funeral had taken place at Ilkley Cemetery, describing him as a well-known Burnley professional footballer who had played for Aberdare, West Ham, Plymouth Argyle, Bristol City and Accrington Stanley. It reported that he had died at St Dunstan's Hostel for the Blind, in Ilkley, having been blinded and crippled through being gassed and suffering from shellshock.

He was just 40 years old when he died and is buried in Ilkley Cemetery, West Yorkshire.

Identity note: This player has previously been identified in some sources as William Harold Ingham, with Norwich City and later Darlington included in his career. However, there is strong evidence that the Norwich City player was a different William Ingham. Research by Norwich City's Historical Trust, supported by certified birth and death certificates, identifies their player as William Ingham, born in Elton, near Bury, on 15 August 1886. He died in Blackburn in 1955.

The Argyle player is identified by Michael Joyce's 'Football League Players' Records 1888-1939' as William E. Ingham, while contemporary reports record the death of William Ewart Ingham of Burnley in 1921 and clearly associate him with Aberdare Athletic, West Ham United, Plymouth Argyle, Bristol City and Accrington Stanley, but make no mention of Norwich City or Darlington. This William Ewart Ingham was born in Burnley on 25th February 1881 and died in 1921, and is the player detailed above.

The evidence therefore indicates that the two players' records have subsequently been conflated, and that the Norwich City & Darlington William Ingham should not be included in this player's career.