William Maxwell (footballer)

William Sturrock Maxwell (21 September 1876 – 14 July 1940) was a Scottish professional footballer and amateur cricketer.[3][4][5]

William Maxwell
Personal information
Full name William Sturrock Maxwell
Date of birth 21 September 1876
Place of birth Arbroath, Scotland
Date of death 14 July 1940(1940-07-14) (aged 63)
Place of death Kirkcaldy, Scotland
Position(s) Forward
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1892 Hearts Strollers
1893–1894 Arbroath
1894 Heart of Midlothian 1 (1)
1894–1895 Dundee
1895–1901 Stoke 153 (74)
1901–1902 Third Lanark 16 (10)
1902–1903 Sunderland 7 (3)
1903–1905 Millwall Athletic 54 (34)
1905–1908 Bristol City 120 (58)
1909–1910 Léopold
Total 351 (180)
National team
1898[1] Scotland 1 (0)
1902[2] Scottish League XI 1 (0)
Teams managed
1910–1913 Belgium
1920–1928 Belgium
1937–1938 Cercle Brugge
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

He played for hometown club Arbroath, Dundee, Heart of Midlothian, Stoke, Sunderland, Third Lanark and Bristol City. He also gained one cap for the Scotland national team.[1] He finished as the top scorer in the Scottish Football League Division One in the 1901–02 season,[6] and later, while at Bristol City, he was the Second Division topscorer with 27 goals in the 1905–06 season.[7] Maxwell later coached the Belgian national team.[8]

Football career

Maxwell was born in Arbroath and began his career as an amateur playing for Hearts Strollers, Arbroath, Heart of Midlothian[9] and Dundee whilst working as a solicitor's clerk. He was persuaded by Stoke manager Bill Rowley to become professional and he did so joining the Potters in the summer of 1895. Maxwell scored on his Stoke debut on the opening day of the 1895–96 season, in a 2–0 win over Bolton Wanderers.[5] He initially had to bide his time as fellow Scottish forwards Billy Dickson and Tommy Hyslop were established in the first team. Following the departure of both Dickson and Hyslop in the summer of 1896 Maxwell became Stoke's main attacking threat and he became the clubs first prolific goalscorer. He finished up as top goalscorer for five seasons in a row, hitting 16 in 1896–97, 11 in 1897–98, 19 in 1898–99, 11 in 1899–1900 and 16 in 1900–01.[5] During that period he took part in the annual Home Scots v Anglo-Scots international trial on four occasions,[10][11] and having scored in the March 1898 fixture[12] he was selected to play for Scotland against England two weeks later in what would be his only full cap.[13]

Maxwell was not a typical 1890s inside-forward as most relied on strength and power, he instead used his pace to sprint away from defenders and most of his goals came in one-on-one situations with the goalkeeper.[5] Maxwell helped Stoke reach their first FA Cup semi-final in 1899 where he scored Stoke's only goal in a 3–1 defeat against Derby County. Maxwell was renowned for his gentlemanly conduct on the pitch but on one occasion playing against West Bromwich Albion in October 1899 he lost his temper with Albion's Abraham Jones and the pair traded blows and were both sent-off.[5] Maxwell received a two-week suspension during with time he played in a benefit match for Sheffield United's Arthur Watson. He suffered a serious knee injury in that match and missed a further ten weeks.[5]

With his injury Stoke decided to cash in on him, selling him to Third Lanark for £250, which turned out to be poor business as Stoke failed to find a suitable replacement and later suffered heavy financial problems. After a year back in Scotland, in which he scored 12 goals in 19 appearances (10 in Scottish Division One, the season's record total)[6] and played for the Scottish Football League XI,[10] he moved to Sunderland, and then to Millwall Athletic where he scored 34 goals in 54 Southern League games.[5] His final move of his career took him to Bristol City where he enjoyed great success, scoring 27 goals in 1905–06 as the Robins won the Second Division title. He then hit 19 goals in 1906–07 as they nearly won the First Division title missing out by three points to Newcastle United.[5]

Maxwell retired in 1909 and decided to move to Belgium to take up a coaching role with the Belgium national team.[14][15][16]

Cricket career

Outside of football, Maxwell played a single cricket match for Staffordshire in the 1904 Minor Counties Championship against Dorset.[17] In Staffordshires' first innings, he was dismissed for 4 runs by Hubert Greenhill, becoming one of Greenhill's 8 victims in the innings. In their second innings, he opened the batting, scoring 18 unbeaten runs.[18]

Career statistics

Club

Source:[19]

Club Season League FA Cup Test Matches Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Heart of Midlothian 1894–95 Scottish Division One 1100—11
Stoke[4] 1895–96 First Division 23744—2711
1896–97 First Division 291323—3116
1897–98 First Division 211120312612
1898–99 First Division 311663—3719
1899–1900 First Division 221100—2211
1900–01 First Division 271630—3016
Total 1537417103117385
Sunderland 1902–03 First Division 7300—73
Millwall Athletic 1903–04 Southern League 2923—2923
1904–05 Southern League 2511—2511
Total 5434—5434
Bristol City 1905–06 Second Division 382611—3927
1906–07 First Division 371722—3919
1907–08 First Division 341220—3612
1908–09 First Division 11300—113
Total 1205853—12561
Career Total 335170221331360184

International

Source:[20]

National teamYearAppsGoals
Scotland 189810
Total10

Honours
Bristol City

References
  1. William Maxwell at the Scottish Football Association
  2. "[SFL player] William Maxwell". London Hearts Supporters' Club. Retrieved 26 May 2014.
  3. "Player profile: William Maxwell". CricketArchive. Retrieved 18 June 2011.
  4. Matthews, Tony (1994). The Encyclopaedia of Stoke City. Lion Press. ISBN 0-9524151-0-0.
  5. Stoke City 101 Golden Greats. Desert Islands Books. 2002. ISBN 1-874287-55-4.
  6. Scotland - List of Topscorers, RSSSF
  7. "English League Leading Goalscorers". RSSSF. Retrieved 31 October 2010.
  9. (Hearts player) Willie Maxwell, London Hearts Supporters Club
  10. John Litster (October 2012). "A Record of pre-war Scottish League Players". Scottish Football Historian magazine. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  11. Football. | Anglo-Scots Trial., The Glasgow Herald, 21 March 1901
  12. Football. | Scots V. Anglo-Scots., The Glasgow Herald, 24 March 1898
  13. (Scotland player) William Maxwell, London Hearts Supporters Club
  14. Woods, David; Leigh Edwards (1997). Bristol City FC The First 100 years. Redcliffe Press. ISBN 1-900178-26-5.
  15. Joyce, Michael (2004). Football League Players' Records 1888 – 1939. Tony Brown. ISBN 1-899468-67-6.
  16. Woods, David (1994). Bristol Babe The First 100 years of Bristol City FC. Yore Publications. ISBN 1-874427-95-X.
  17. "Minor Counties Championship Matches played by William Maxwell". CricketArchive. Retrieved 18 June 2011.
  18. "Dorset v Staffordshire, 1904 Minor Counties Championship". CricketArchive. Retrieved 18 June 2011.
  19. William Maxwell at the English National Football Archive (subscription required)
  20. Maxwell, William at National-Football-Teams.com
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