Willie Naughton
Encyclopedia
William A. "Willie" Naughton (born 16 July 1868) was a Scottish professional footballer, who played as an outside-forward for various clubs in Scotland and England in the 1880s and 1890s, including Celtic
, Stoke
and Southampton
. Throughout his career he was known as "Chippy".
, north-east of Glasgow
and in his teenage years played for a variety of clubs across Scotland, including Hibernian
in Edinburgh
and Celtic
in Glasgow.
In July 1890, he moved to England to join Stoke of the Football League
, for whom he made over one hundred appearances, generally at inside-right. In 1891, he was suspended for receiving payments from his club while registered as an amateur
.
On 26 April 1893, he was part of the Stoke team which visited the County Ground
to play a friendly match against Southampton St Mary's
. Even with the future founder of football in Brazil
, Charles Miller
playing at outside-left, the "Saints" were "outplayed fairly and squarely on every point", losing 8–0. Despite the result, it was reported that the spectators "thoroughly enjoyed the exhibition" and looked forward to witnessing "more matches of a similar character" in future. Also playing for Stoke were Charles Baker
, Lachie Thomson
and Alf Littlehales
, all of whom were to move to Southampton within two years.
Naughton moved to the south coast
in April 1895 to join Southampton, prior to the start of their second season
in the Southern League
. Naughton made his debut at inside-right for the opening match of the season, a 1–0 defeat at champions Millwall
, retaining his place for the remainder of the season, missing only one league match.
Naughton missed the first three matches of the 1896–97 season
, returning on 24 October at outside-right. On 7 November, he scored a hat-trick in an 8–3 victory over New Brompton. He continued at outside-right for the rest of the season, scoring a total of six league goals. Described as an "inveterate practical joker", Naughton's elusive wing play and pin-point centres to forwards Jack Farrell
and Bob Buchanan
, helped the "Saints" to claim the Southern League title for the first of six occasions over the next eight years.
In the FA Cup, Naughton played in every match until the Saints reached the Second Round proper, where they met Newton Heath
. The first match, at the County Ground
on 13 February 1897 ended 1–1. As a result of an injury, Naughton was unavailable for the replay four days later, when he was replaced by James Spellacy, making his only first-team appearance for the Saints. Naughton was badly missed and Newton Heath ran out 3–1 winners.
For the next season
, Southampton signed Jimmy Yates
who replaced Naughton at outside-left. Naughton only made three further appearances before returning to Scotland at the end of the season.
Southampton
Celtic F.C.
Celtic Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the Parkhead area of Glasgow, which currently plays in the Scottish Premier League. The club was established in 1887, and played its first game in 1888. Celtic have won the Scottish League Championship on 42 occasions, most recently in the...
, Stoke
Stoke City F.C.
Stoke City Football Club is an English professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire that plays in the Premier League. Founded in 1863, it is the oldest club in the Premier League, and considered to be the second oldest professional football club in the world, after Notts...
and 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...
. Throughout his career he was known as "Chippy".
Football career
Naughton was born in GarnkirkGarnkirk
Garnkirk is a scattered settlement in North Lanarkshire, located a mile southwest of Muirhead.-External links:*...
, north-east of Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
and in his teenage years played for a variety of clubs across Scotland, including Hibernian
Hibernian F.C.
Hibernian Football Club are a Scottish professional football club based in Leith, in the north of Edinburgh. They are one of two Scottish Premier League clubs in the city, the other being their Edinburgh derby rivals, Hearts...
in Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
and Celtic
Celtic F.C.
Celtic Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the Parkhead area of Glasgow, which currently plays in the Scottish Premier League. The club was established in 1887, and played its first game in 1888. Celtic have won the Scottish League Championship on 42 occasions, most recently in the...
in Glasgow.
In July 1890, he moved to England to join Stoke of 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 whom he made over one hundred appearances, generally at inside-right. In 1891, he was suspended for receiving payments from his club while registered as an amateur
Amateur sports
Amateur sports are sports in which participants engage largely or entirely without remuneration. Sporting amateurism was a zealously guarded ideal in the 19th century, especially among the upper classes, but faced steady erosion throughout the 20th century with the continuing growth of pro sports...
.
On 26 April 1893, he was part of the Stoke team which visited the County Ground
County Ground, Southampton
The County Ground in Southampton, England was a former cricket and football ground. It was the home of Hampshire County Cricket Club from the 1885 English cricket season until the 2000 English cricket season...
to play a friendly match against Southampton St Mary's
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...
. Even with the future founder of football in Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
, Charles Miller
Charles William Miller
Charles William Miller was a Brazilian sportsman, who is considered to be the father of football in Brazil.-Early life:...
playing at outside-left, the "Saints" were "outplayed fairly and squarely on every point", losing 8–0. Despite the result, it was reported that the spectators "thoroughly enjoyed the exhibition" and looked forward to witnessing "more matches of a similar character" in future. Also playing for Stoke were Charles Baker
Charles Baker (footballer)
Charles Baker was an English professional footballer who played as an inside forward in Southampton's inaugural season in the Southern League.-Playing career:...
, Lachie Thomson
Lachie Thomson
W.J.G. "Lachie" Thomson was an English professional footballer who played as a defender for Stoke in the Football League before joining Southampton St Mary's for the inaugural Southern League season in 1894.-Stoke:...
and Alf Littlehales
Alf Littlehales
Alfred "Alf" Littlehales was an English professional footballer who played at centre-half for Southampton in the 1890s.-Football career:...
, all of whom were to move to Southampton within two years.
Naughton moved to the south coast
Southern England
Southern England, the South and the South of England are imprecise terms used to refer to the southern counties of England bordering the English Midlands. It has a number of different interpretations of its geographic extents. The South is considered by many to be a cultural region with a distinct...
in April 1895 to join Southampton, prior to the start of their second season
Southern Football League 1895-96
The 1895-96 season was the second in the history of the Southern League. Millwall Athletic won Division One for the second successive season.-Division One:...
in the 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...
. Naughton made his debut at inside-right for the opening match of the season, a 1–0 defeat at champions Millwall
Millwall F.C.
Millwall Football Club is an English professional football club based in South Bermondsey, south east London, that plays in the Football League Championship, the second tier of English football. Founded as Millwall Rovers in 1885, the club has retained its name despite having last played in the...
, retaining his place for the remainder of the season, missing only one league match.
Naughton missed the first three matches of the 1896–97 season
Southern Football League 1896-97
The 1896-97 season was the third in the history of the Southern League. Southampton St.Mary's won the Division One championship.-Division One:Division One featured five new clubs:*Gravesend United *Northfleet...
, returning on 24 October at outside-right. On 7 November, he scored a hat-trick in an 8–3 victory over New Brompton. He continued at outside-right for the rest of the season, scoring a total of six league goals. Described as an "inveterate practical joker", Naughton's elusive wing play and pin-point centres to forwards Jack Farrell
Jack Farrell (footballer)
John "Jack" Farrell was an English professional footballer who played as a forward. Farrell played in the Football League for Stoke and New Brighton Tower and played a major part in Southern league club Southampton's major cup runs at the turn of the 20th Century.-Early career:Farrell was born in...
and Bob Buchanan
Robert Buchanan (footballer)
Robert John Buchanan was a Scottish international footballer who played as a forward in the 1890s.-Early career:Born in Johnstone, he started his career as a youth player with Johnstone before joining Abercorn in 1887...
, helped the "Saints" to claim the Southern League title for the first of six occasions over the next eight years.
In the FA Cup, Naughton played in every match until the Saints reached the Second Round proper, where they met Newton Heath
Manchester United F.C.
Manchester United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, that plays in the Premier League. Founded as Newton Heath LYR Football Club in 1878, the club changed its name to Manchester United in 1902 and moved to Old Trafford in 1910.The 1958...
. The first match, at the County Ground
County Ground, Southampton
The County Ground in Southampton, England was a former cricket and football ground. It was the home of Hampshire County Cricket Club from the 1885 English cricket season until the 2000 English cricket season...
on 13 February 1897 ended 1–1. As a result of an injury, Naughton was unavailable for the replay four days later, when he was replaced by James Spellacy, making his only first-team appearance for the Saints. Naughton was badly missed and Newton Heath ran out 3–1 winners.
For the next season
Southern Football League 1897-98
The 1897–98 season was the fourth in the history of the Southern League. Southampton won the Division One championship for the second successive season.-Division One:Division One featured one new club, Bristol City, who were newly-elected....
, Southampton signed Jimmy Yates
Jimmy Yates
Jimmy Yates was an English professional footballer who played as a right winger in the 1900 FA Cup Final for Southampton.-Playing career:...
who replaced Naughton at outside-left. Naughton only made three further appearances before returning to Scotland at the end of the season.
Career statistics
| Club | Season | League | FA Cup | Total | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Stoke Stoke City F.C. Stoke City Football Club is an English professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire that plays in the Premier League. Founded in 1863, it is the oldest club in the Premier League, and considered to be the second oldest professional football club in the world, after Notts... |
1890–91 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 2 |
| 1891–92 | 16 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 17 | 2 | |
| 1892–93 | 24 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 25 | 6 | |
| 1893–94 | 28 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 29 | 10 | |
| 1894–95 | 18 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 3 | |
| Total | 92 | 24 | 3 | 0 | 95 | 23 | |
| 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... |
1895–96 | 17 | 8 | 4 | 3 | 21 | 11 |
| 1896–97 | 16 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 22 | 6 | |
| 1897–98 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 1 | |
| Total | 36 | 15 | 11 | 3 | 47 | 18 | |
| Career Total | 128 | 39 | 14 | 3 | 142 | 42 | |
Honours
StokeStoke City F.C.
Stoke City Football Club is an English professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire that plays in the Premier League. Founded in 1863, it is the oldest club in the Premier League, and considered to be the second oldest professional football club in the world, after Notts...
- Football AllianceFootball AllianceThe 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...
champions: 1890–91
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...
- Southern LeagueSouthern Football LeagueThe 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...
champions: 1896–97Southern Football League 1896-97The 1896-97 season was the third in the history of the Southern League. Southampton St.Mary's won the Division One championship.-Division One:Division One featured five new clubs:*Gravesend United *Northfleet...