William John "Billy" Beer (born 4 January 1879 in Poolsbrook

Poolsbrook

Poolsbrook is a former mining village near Staveley in North East Derbyshire, England.-Broadcasting:The local radio stations that cover the village are Peak FM, Radio Derby, Radio Sheffield and Mansfield 103.2 FM....

, near Chesterfield

Chesterfield

Chesterfield is a market town and a borough of Derbyshire, England. It lies north of Derby, on a confluence of the rivers Rother and Hipper. Its population is 70,260 , making it Derbyshire's largest town...

, Derbyshire

Derbyshire

Derbyshire is a county in the East Midlands of England. A substantial portion of the Peak District National Park lies within Derbyshire. The northern part of Derbyshire overlaps with the Pennines, a famous chain of hills and mountains. The county contains within its boundary of approx...

, died March 1941) 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...

 professional footballer who played as a wing half

Wing half

In association football, the position of wing half or wing half back) was popularly used in the late nineteenth and first half of the 20th centuries...

 for Sheffield United

Sheffield United F.C.

Sheffield United Football Club is a professional English football club based in the city of Sheffield, South Yorkshire.They were the first sporting team to use the name 'United' and are nicknamed 'The Blades', thanks to Sheffield's worldwide reputation for steel production...

 and Small Heath

Birmingham City F.C.

Birmingham City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, they became Small Heath in 1888, then Birmingham in 1905, finally becoming Birmingham City in 1943.They were relegated at the end of the...

 (renamed Birmingham in 1905).

He made over 100 appearances for Sheffield United and scored the third goal in their 4–1 defeat of Derby County

Derby County F.C.

Derby County Football Club is an English football based in Derby. the club play in the Football League Championship and is notable as being one of the twelve founder members of the Football League in 1888 and is, therefore, one of only ten clubs to have competed in every season of the English...

 in the 1899 FA Cup Final

1899 FA Cup Final

The 1899 FA Cup Final was contested by Sheffield United and Derby County at Crystal Palace. Sheffield United won 4–1, with goals scored by John Almond, Walter Bennett, Billy Beer and Fred Priest. John Boag scored Derby's goal.-Match details:...

. Beer moved to Small Heath in January 1902 and the following season helped them to promotion back to the First Division

Football League First Division

The First Division was a division of The Football League between 1888 and 2004 and the highest division in English football until the creation of the Premier League in 1992. The secondary tier in English football has since become known as the Championship....

. Later in his Birmingham career he played some games at centre-forward

Striker

Forwards, also known as strikers, are the players on a team in association football who play nearest to the opposing team's goal, and are therefore principally responsible for scoring goals...

, which combined with his prowess at penalty

Penalty kick

A penalty kick is a type of direct free kick in association football, taken from twelve yards out from goal and with only the goalkeeper of the defending team between the penalty taker and the goal.Penalty kicks are performed during normal play...

-taking made him the club's joint leading scorer in the 1908–09 season

1908-09 in English football

The 1908–09 season was the 38th season of competitive football in England.-Overview:Tottenham Hotspur played their first ever season in the Football League, gaining promotion to the First Division in the process...

.

He retired from football at the end of the next season, and emigrated to Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

 where he became a sheep-farmer. Returning to England in 1920, he became Birmingham's manager in 1923, taking charge of the team for four years in the First Division.

He was also a talented musician.

Honours

• with Sheffield United
  • FA Cup
    FA Cup
    The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's...
    
     winners 1899.
  • First Division
    Football League First Division
    The First Division was a division of The Football League between 1888 and 2004 and the highest division in English football until the creation of the Premier League in 1992. The secondary tier in English football has since become known as the Championship....
    
     runners up 1900.
• with Small Heath
  • 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...
    
    promotion 1903.