Walter Millership
Encyclopedia
Walter Millership was a professional footballer who played for Bradford Park Avenue and Sheffield Wednesday
in a career that lasted from 1928 until 1939 during which time he played 240 League games (271 including cup games), scoring 38 league goals (47 including cup). Millership made his name as a centre half but he originally was a centre forward
in his early playing days.
on 8 June 1910. As a youth he excelled at both football and cricket
, playing his football for Warsop Main, Welbeck
Athletic and Shirebrook Town F.C.
. Upon leaving school he worked at Warsop colliery and was soon approached by Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club
, but their effort to sign him was rebuffed by Millership who wanted to further his football career.
championship. The following season Millership only made two appearances and it was not until the 1929-30 season that he became a regular in the Park Avenue forward line scoring 12 goals in 25 appearances including a goal in the FA cup
fourth round upset of Derby County
and another in the 1-5 fifth round defeat against League champions Sheffield Wednesday on 15 February 1930. Despite the heavy defeat, Wednesday manager Bob Brown
was sufficiently impressed with Millership to sign him for the Hillsborough
club the following month for a fee of £2,600.
in the remainder of the 1929-30 season as Wednesday retained their Division One
title. However for the next three season Millership’s first team opportunities were limited as he was kept out of the side by ace inside forwards Jimmy Seed
, Harry Burgess
and latterly Ronnie Starling
. In the 1931-32 season he had the fine record of 14 goals in 17 appearances including four goals in a 7-0 FA Cup 4th round victory over A.F.C. Bournemouth
in January 1932 and a League hat-trick against Blackburn Rovers
in the same month.
Millership’s big chance in the Wednesday team came when it was decided to play him as a centre half towards the end of the 1932-33 season as a temporary replacement for the injured Tony Leach. Millership revelled in the central defensive position, his sturdy play earning him the nickname “Battleship” from Wednesday fans and by the end of 1933 he had made the position his own. He was Wednesday’s first choice centre half for the next five seasons, playing in the 1935 FA Cup Final
victory over West Brom
and coming close to earning an England
cap, playing in an international trial in March 1935.
Millership lost his centre half place to Harry Hanford in the last full season before World War II
(1938–39), however he played 12 games as a stand in centre forward, scoring eight goals when Doug Hunt
was injured. Millership captained Wednesday throughout the war playing in 155 wartime games, scoring 12 goals. He played in the 1943 War Cup Final defeat to Blackpool F.C.
. He also played as a guest for Doncaster Rovers
and Sheffield United
during the war.
after the war signing for Denaby United
in May 1946. It was at this time that Millership can claim to have discovered the 17 year old Derek Dooley who scored a hat trick for Lincoln City
reserves whilst playing against Denaby. Millership was quickly on the phone to Wednesday to inform them of Dooley’s talent and he was signed in great haste by Wednesday manager Eric Taylor
. In 1948 Millership returned to coal mining at Arkwright Town
colliery and stayed there until his retirement in 1969. Walter Millership died in 1978 at Brimington
near Chesterfield
.
Sheffield Wednesday F.C.
Sheffield Wednesday Football Club are a football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, who are currently competing in the Football League One in the 2011-12 season, in England. Sheffield Wednesday are one of the oldest professional clubs in the world and the fourth oldest in the...
in a career that lasted from 1928 until 1939 during which time he played 240 League games (271 including cup games), scoring 38 league goals (47 including cup). Millership made his name as a centre half but he originally was a 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...
in his early playing days.
Early days
Millership was born in the small mining village of Warsop Vale in NottinghamshireNottinghamshire
Nottinghamshire is a county in the East Midlands of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west...
on 8 June 1910. As a youth he excelled at both football and cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
, playing his football for Warsop Main, Welbeck
Welbeck
Welbeck is a village in Nottinghamshire, England, slightly to the south-west of Worksop.Welbeck became a coal-mining centre in 1912 and has a famous stately home, Welbeck Abbey, home of the Dukes of Portland, and which was founded in the twelfth century as a monastery.Among the famous people from...
Athletic and Shirebrook Town F.C.
Shirebrook Town F.C.
Shirebrook Town F.C. are a football club based in Shirebrook, England. They are currently in Division One of the Northern Counties East Football League and play at Langwith Road.-History:...
. Upon leaving school he worked at Warsop colliery and was soon approached by Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club
Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club
Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Nottinghamshire, and the current county champions. Its limited overs team is called the Nottinghamshire Outlaws...
, but their effort to sign him was rebuffed by Millership who wanted to further his football career.
Bradford Park Avenue
In January 1928 he was invited for a trial at Bradford Park Avenue and was promptly signed making three appearances in the remainder of that season as Park Avenue lifted the Third Division NorthFootball League Third Division North
The Third Division North of The Football League was a tier in the English association football league system from 1921 to 1958. It ran parallel to Third Division South with clubs elected to the League or relegated from a higher division allocated to one or the other according to geographical position...
championship. The following season Millership only made two appearances and it was not until the 1929-30 season that he became a regular in the Park Avenue forward line scoring 12 goals in 25 appearances including a goal 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...
fourth round upset 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...
and another in the 1-5 fifth round defeat against League champions Sheffield Wednesday on 15 February 1930. Despite the heavy defeat, Wednesday manager Bob Brown
Robert Brown (football manager)
Robert Brown was an English association football player and manager in the early twentieth century.After an undistinguished career in semi-professional football in his native north-east England, Brown joined Sheffield Wednesday as a scout. In 1911 he joined Portsmouth as secretary, a job he held...
was sufficiently impressed with Millership to sign him for the Hillsborough
Hillsborough Stadium
Hillsborough Stadium is the home of Sheffield Wednesday football club, Sheffield, England. Football has been played at the ground since it was opened on 2 September 1899, when Wednesday moved from their original ground at Olive Grove. Today it is a 39,812 capacity all-seater stadium, making it the...
club the following month for a fee of £2,600.
Sheffield Wednesday
Millership played six games at inside rightInside forward
In football, the position of inside forward was popularly used in the late nineteenth and first half of the 20th centuries. The inside forwards would support the centre forwards, running and making space in the opposition defence, and, as the passing game developed, supporting him with passes...
in the remainder of the 1929-30 season as Wednesday retained their Division One
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....
title. However for the next three season Millership’s first team opportunities were limited as he was kept out of the side by ace inside forwards Jimmy Seed
Jimmy Seed
James Marshall "Jimmy" Seed was an English footballer and football manager.Despite being born in Blackhill, Seed was brought up in the village of Whitburn on the coast just to the north of Sunderland...
, Harry Burgess
Harry Burgess (footballer)
Harry Burgess was an English footballer who played at Inside-left for Stockport County, Sheffield Wednesday where he won the league championship in 1929–30, and Chelsea...
and latterly Ronnie Starling
Ronnie Starling
Ronald William "Ronnie" Starling was an English footballer whose career lasted from 1926 to 1946. Starling was an inside forward who made 413 appearances in all competitions, never a high scoring inside forward he was a player who created chances for other players, notching a modest 65 goals...
. In the 1931-32 season he had the fine record of 14 goals in 17 appearances including four goals in a 7-0 FA Cup 4th round victory over A.F.C. Bournemouth
A.F.C. Bournemouth
A.F.C. Bournemouth is an English football club currently playing in Football League One. The club plays at Dean Court in Kings Park, Boscombe, Bournemouth, Dorset and have been in existence since 1899....
in January 1932 and a League hat-trick against Blackburn Rovers
Blackburn Rovers F.C.
Blackburn Rovers Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Blackburn, Lancashire. The team currently competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football....
in the same month.
Millership’s big chance in the Wednesday team came when it was decided to play him as a centre half towards the end of the 1932-33 season as a temporary replacement for the injured Tony Leach. Millership revelled in the central defensive position, his sturdy play earning him the nickname “Battleship” from Wednesday fans and by the end of 1933 he had made the position his own. He was Wednesday’s first choice centre half for the next five seasons, playing in the 1935 FA Cup Final
1935 FA Cup Final
The 1935 FA Cup Final was contested by Sheffield Wednesday and West Bromwich Albion at Wembley. Sheffield Wednesday won 4–2, with goals scored by Jack Palethorpe, Mark Hooper and Ellis Rimmer...
victory over West Brom
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...
and coming close to earning an England
England national football team
The England national football team represents England in association football and is controlled by the Football Association, the governing body for football in England. England is the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside Scotland, whom they played in the world's first...
cap, playing in an international trial in March 1935.
Millership lost his centre half place to Harry Hanford in the last full season before World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
(1938–39), however he played 12 games as a stand in centre forward, scoring eight goals when Doug Hunt
Douglas Hunt
Douglas ‘Doug’ Hunt was a professional footballer whose career lasted from 1934 to 1948. Hunt was a centre forward who played for Tottenham Hotspur, Barnsley, Sheffield Wednesday and Leyton Orient. Hunt lost some of his best years as a footballer to World War II being only 25 when war was declared...
was injured. Millership captained Wednesday throughout the war playing in 155 wartime games, scoring 12 goals. He played in the 1943 War Cup Final defeat to Blackpool F.C.
Blackpool F.C.
Blackpool Football Club are an English football club founded in 1887 from the Lancashire seaside town of Blackpool. They are competing in the 2011–12 season of the The Championship, the second tier of professional football in England, having been relegated from the Premier League at the end of the...
. He also played as a guest for 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...
and 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...
during the war.
Later life
Millership played on in Non-League footballNon-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...
after the war signing for Denaby United
Denaby United F.C.
Denaby United F.C. are an English football club that originally folded in 2002 following eviction from their ground by the Denaby & Cadeby Miners' Welfare, but have since re-appeared in the Doncaster and District Senior League Division One for the 2011-12 season...
in May 1946. It was at this time that Millership can claim to have discovered the 17 year old Derek Dooley who scored a hat trick for Lincoln City
Lincoln City F.C.
Lincoln City Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Lincoln, Lincolnshire. The club are currently members of the Conference National in 2011–12 following relegation from the Football League....
reserves whilst playing against Denaby. Millership was quickly on the phone to Wednesday to inform them of Dooley’s talent and he was signed in great haste by Wednesday manager Eric Taylor
Eric Taylor (football manager)
Eric Taylor was an English football manager most notable for his spell in charge of Sheffield Wednesday from 1942 to 1958....
. In 1948 Millership returned to coal mining at Arkwright Town
Arkwright Town
Arkwright Town, commonly referred to as Arkwright, is a settlement in North East Derbyshire, England that is notable for having moved its location in the early 1990s. Despite its name, the settlement has no official town status....
colliery and stayed there until his retirement in 1969. Walter Millership died in 1978 at Brimington
Brimington
Brimington is a civil parish within the borough of Chesterfield in north-east Derbyshire, England. The town of Staveley is to the east, and Hollingwood is nearby...
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...
.