Arthur Benjamin 'Ben' Appleby (born 13 June 1876) was a professional footballer who spent the vast majority of his career at Bristol Rovers

Bristol Rovers F.C.

Bristol Rovers Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Bristol, that competes in Football League Two. The team plays its home matches at the Memorial Stadium, in the Horfield area of the city....

. He was signed by Rovers manager Alfred Homer

Alfred Homer

Alfred Homer, Jr. was an English professional football manager.Homer became Bristol Rovers' first full-time manager-secretary in 1899, a job he held for twenty-one years until 1920. Prior to this he was assistant secretary of Aston Villa.Homer's father, also called Alfred Homer, founded the Vulcan...

 in 1903 having played just a single game of League football, for West Bromwich Albion

West Bromwich Albion F.C.

West Bromwich Albion Football Club, also known as West Brom, The Baggies, The Throstles, Albion or WBA, are an English Premier League association football club based in West Bromwich in the West Midlands...

 against Glossop North End

Glossop North End A.F.C.

Glossop North End A.F.C. are an English football club based in Glossop, Derbyshire. Former members of the Football League, they are currently in the North West Counties League and are members of the Derbyshire County Football Association. They play their home matches at Surrey Street, which has a...

 in the Football League Second Division

Football League Second Division

From 1892 until 1992, the Football League Second Division was the second highest division overall in English football.This ended with the creation of the FA Premier League, prior to the start of the 1992–93 season, which caused an administrative split between The Football League and the teams...

, but he immediately established himself as a regular in the Rovers' first team. He was part of the team that won the Southern League

Southern Football League

The Southern League is an English football competition featuring semi-professional and amateur clubs from the South West, South Central and Midlands of England and South Wales...

 championship in 1905.

Appleby retired from professional football in 1908, going on to play non-League football

Non-league football

Non-League football is football in England played at a level below that of the Premier League and The Football League. The term non-League was commonly used well before 1992 when the top football clubs in England all belonged to The Football League; all clubs who were not a part of The Football...

 in Gloucester

Gloucester

Gloucester is a city, district and county town of Gloucestershire in the South West region of England. Gloucester lies close to the Welsh border, and on the River Severn, approximately north-east of Bristol, and south-southwest of Birmingham....

.

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