William Adams was an English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 footballer

Football (soccer)

Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...

 who played for Southampton

Southampton F.C.

Southampton Football Club is an English football team, nicknamed The Saints, based in the city of Southampton, Hampshire. The club gained promotion to the Championship from League One in the 2010–2011 season after being relegated in 2009. Their home ground is the St Mary's Stadium, where the club...

, West Ham United

West Ham United F.C.

West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Upton Park, Newham, East London. They play in The Football League Championship. The club was founded in 1895 as Thames Ironworks FC and reformed in 1900 as West Ham United. In 1904 the club relocated to their current...

 and Southend United

Southend United F.C.

Southend United Football Club is an English football club based at Roots Hall Stadium, Prittlewell, Southend-on-Sea, Essex, who play in Football League Two. Their home ground is Roots Hall, and the club plan to move into a new 22,000-seater stadium located at Fossetts Farm.-Stadium:The club has had...

.

Bill Adams, a right half, began his footballing career with Sunderland Colliery and then Guildford United

Guildford City F.C.

Guildford City Football Club is a football club based in Guildford, Surrey, England. The club was originally established in 1921, folded in 1974 and were reformed in 1996...

. He made his debut for Southampton on 27 August 1927, but waited over three years for his next first team appearance. Once he had achieved a settled place in the side, he soon displayed a whole-hearted attitude and went on to become club captain in the 1931-32 season, and totalled 205 league and cup appearances.

Adams joined West Ham in 1936 for a fee of £500, and scored on his debut against his old club in a 2-0 victory at The Dell

The Dell (Southampton F.C.)

The Dell in Milton Road, Southampton, England was the home ground of Southampton Football Club, between 1898 and 2001.-New stadium:Since 1896, Southampton had been tenants of Hampshire County Cricket Club at the County Ground, having vacated the Antelope Ground in the summer of 1896...

 on 21 November 1936. He did not stay in east London long, however, and after three league appearances transferred to Southend United

Southend United F.C.

Southend United Football Club is an English football club based at Roots Hall Stadium, Prittlewell, Southend-on-Sea, Essex, who play in Football League Two. Their home ground is Roots Hall, and the club plan to move into a new 22,000-seater stadium located at Fossetts Farm.-Stadium:The club has had...

 in January 1937. He retired later that year to run the Half Way Inn at Chandler's Ford

Chandler's Ford

Chandler's Ford is a largely residential area and civil parish in the Borough of Eastleigh in Hampshire, England, with a population of 20,071 in the 2001 UK Census....

, where he remained for 26 years.

External links

• William Adams, westhamstats.info, last accessed 11 February 2007