Edwin James "Ted" Devey (August 1862 – 2 September 1946) 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 football

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...

er who played as a left 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...

.

Football career

Born in Small Heath, Birmingham

Small Heath, Birmingham

Small Heath is an inner-city area within the city of Birmingham, West Midlands, England. It is situated on and around the A45 ....

, he played for local club Birmingham Excelsior

Birmingham Excelsior F.C.

Birmingham Excelsior Football Club was an English football club founded in 1876.-History:Birmingham Excelsior participated in the FA Cup for five seasons, from 1883–84 to 1887–88.-Famous players:...

 before signing for 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...

 in 1888. A defensive wing half with strong tackling, he went on to make 155 appearances in the 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...

, Football Alliance

Football Alliance

The Football Alliance was an association football league in England which ran for three seasons, from 1889–90 to 1891–92.It was formed by 12 clubs as a rival to the Football League, which had begun in the 1888–89 season, also with 12 member clubs...

 and the 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...

 for the club in the early days of its history. He helped the club to the inaugural 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...

 championship in 1893 and promotion 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....

 the following year. In 1896 he moved to Burton Wanderers

Burton Wanderers F.C.

Burton Wanderers were a football club from Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, England that spent three seasons in The Football League. In 1901, the club merged with Burton Swifts and formed a new club, Burton United.-History:...

; playing against them in the 1888 FA Cup, he scored four goals in Small Heath's 9–0 win, as did his brother Will

Will Devey

William 'Will' Devey was an English professional footballer who played as a centre-forward for Small Heath in the Football Alliance and for a variety of Midlands clubs in the Football League and outside it.-Football career:He was Small Heath Alliance's leading...

.

Family

He came from a footballing family; brother Will

Will Devey

William 'Will' Devey was an English professional footballer who played as a centre-forward for Small Heath in the Football Alliance and for a variety of Midlands clubs in the Football League and outside it.-Football career:He was Small Heath Alliance's leading...

 played for Small Heath and several other Midlands

English Midlands

The Midlands, or the English Midlands, is the traditional name for the area comprising central England that broadly corresponds to the early medieval Kingdom of Mercia. It borders Southern England, Northern England, East Anglia and Wales. Its largest city is Birmingham, and it was an important...

 clubs, and other brothers Jack

John Devey

John Henry George "Jack" Devey was a football player.-Football career:Devey was born in Birmingham and signed for Aston Villa in March 1891; he would go on to become one of Aston Villa's greatest captains...

, Harry

Harry Devey

Harry Percival Devey was an English footballer who played in The Football League for Aston Villa.-Family:He was one of five brothers who all played professional football, Ted and Will for Small Heath and Jack, Harry and Bob for Aston Villa. Another brother, Abel, was a cricketer with...

 and Bob also played for Aston Villa

Aston Villa F.C.

Aston Villa Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Witton, Birmingham. The club was founded in 1874 and have played at their current home ground, Villa Park, since 1897. Aston Villa were founder members of The Football League in 1888. They were also founder...

. Devey died in Birmingham

Birmingham

Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...

 aged about 84. Another brother, Abel, was a cricketer with Staffordshire

Staffordshire County Cricket Club

Staffordshire County Cricket Club is one of the county clubs which make up the Minor Counties in the English domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Staffordshire and playing in the Minor Counties Championship and the MCCA Knockout Trophy...

.