William 'Billy' Palmer (born 1888) was a professional association footballer who played for eight different clubs in over a seventeen-year span that was interrupted by the First World War

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

.

Originally from Barnsley

Barnsley

Barnsley is a town in South Yorkshire, England. It lies on the River Dearne, north of the city of Sheffield, south of Leeds and west of Doncaster. Barnsley is surrounded by several smaller settlements which together form the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley, of which Barnsley is the largest and...

, Palmer joined his home town club in 1907 but left after less than a full season without having played any first team League games to join Mexborough in March 1908. Just three months later he joined 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....

 side Nottingham Forest

Nottingham Forest F.C.

Nottingham Forest Football Club is an English Association Football club based in West Bridgford, Nottingham, that plays in the Football League Championship...

, with whom he made his Football League

The Football League

The Football League, also known as the npower Football League for sponsorship reasons, is a league competition featuring professional association football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888, it is the oldest such competition in world football...

 debut. He made twelve appearances in Division One during a two-year spell, scoring once, before joining Rotherham County

Rotherham County F.C.

Rotherham County Football Club was an English football club based in the town of Rotherham, Yorkshire. The club was founded in 1877 as Thornhill Football Club becoming Rotherham County in 1905. It joined the Midland League in 1903, and stayed in that competition until it was abandoned for World...

 in 1910. Palmer spent a further two years in Rotherham

Rotherham

Rotherham is a town in South Yorkshire, England. It lies on the River Don, at its confluence with the River Rother, between Sheffield and Doncaster. Rotherham, at from Sheffield City Centre, is surrounded by several smaller settlements, which together form the wider Metropolitan Borough of...

 and played for them in 64 consecutive games in the Midland League

Midland Football League

There have been at least two different football competitions in England which used the name Midland Football League.One existed until 1982 before merging with the Yorkshire League to form the Northern Counties League....

.

In 1912 he joined 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...

 club 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....

, where he earned the nickname "Lady Palmer" because he rarely dirtied his shorts during a match. His twenty-three appearances for Rovers were of sufficient quality for Everton

Everton F.C.

Everton Football Club are an English professional association football club from the city of Liverpool. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of English football...

 to pay the Bristol club £800 for his services, then a very large fee, and to take him for a second spell in Division One of the Football League. His time at Everton ended when League football was suspended due to the First World War, after having made 22 appearances in the First Division.

Palmer played one unofficial wartime match for Bradford City

Bradford City A.F.C.

Bradford City Association Football Club is an English association football club based in Bradford, West Yorkshire, playing in League Two....

, before returning to one of his former teams, Bristol Rovers for a further three years. Each of those three seasons were spent in different divisions, he played 34 times in the Southern League during the 1919–20 season, thirty times in the Football League Third Division

Football League Third Division

The Football League Third Division was the 3 tier of English Football from 1920 until 1992 when after the formation of the Football Association Premier League saw the league renamed The Football League Division Two...

 in 1920–21, and a further fifteen times in Division Three (South)

Football League Third Division South

The Football League Third Division South was a level of English professional football which ran in parallel to Third Division North from 1921 to 1958....

 in 1921–22.

The remainder of his career was spent with Gillingham

Gillingham F.C.

Gillingham Football Club is an English professional football club based in the town of Gillingham, Kent. The only Kent-based club in the Football League, they play their home matches at the Priestfield Stadium...

 and Doncaster Rovers

Doncaster Rovers F.C.

Doncaster Rovers Football Club is an English football club, based at the Keepmoat Stadium in Doncaster, South Yorkshire. The team currently competes in the Football League Championship, after being promoted via the League One play-offs in 2008, and have remained there since.The club was founded in...

, spending one year with each of them before finally retiring from football in 1924.

Sources