Bill Shorthouse
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | William Henry Shorthouse | ||
| Date of birth | 27 May 1922 | ||
| Place of birth | Bilston, England | ||
| Date of death | 6 September 2008 (aged 86) | ||
| Place of death | Wolverhampton, England | ||
| Position(s) | Defender | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1941–1956 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 344 | (1) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 1970 | Birmingham City (joint caretaker) | ||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
William Henry Shorthouse (27 May 1922 – 6 September 2008) was an English professional football player and coach, who spent his playing career with Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Career
[edit]Born in Bilston, Staffordshire, Shorthouse attended St Martin's School in nearby Bradley.[1] He served in the Royal Engineers in the Second World War, and was wounded in the arm during the Normandy landings.[2] He had joined Wolverhampton Wanderers as an amateur in 1941;[3] his senior debut came on 23 August 1947 in a 4–3 First Division defeat at Manchester City.[4]
He played as a defender, first at centre-half until replaced by Billy Wright, then at full-back.[3] He was part of the club's 1949 FA Cup-winning team and was a near ever-present as the club won their first league championship in the 1953–54 season.[1]
The defender remained a first choice player at Molineux until retiring in late 1956. In total, he played 376 senior games for the club – putting him among the club's top 20 appearance makers – before launching a career in coaching.[1]
Shorthouse went on to coach at Birmingham City,[5] and he and chief scout Don Dorman acted as caretaker managers at the end of the 1969–70 season while the club sought a replacement after Stan Cullis, Shorthouse's former manager at Wolves, retired.[6] He also briefly coached the England youth team during the following season and later worked as a youth team coach at Aston Villa, guiding them to victory in the 1980 FA Youth Cup.
Known as "The Baron" to his teammates, he died in a Wolverhampton nursing home on 6 September 2008 at the age of 86. He had been suffering from dementia.[7]
Honours
[edit]Wolverhampton Wanderers
- First Division: 1953–54; runner-up 1949–50, 1954–55
- FA Cup: 1949
- FA Charity Shield shared: 1949
References
[edit]- ^ a b c "Tributes paid to Wolves legend". Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. 12 September 2008. Archived from the original on 13 September 2008.
- ^ Rippon, Anton (2011) [First published 2005]. Gas Masks for Goal Posts. Football in Britain during the Second World War. Stroud: The History Press. ISBN 978-0-7524-7188-4.
- ^ a b Ponting, Ivan (17 September 2008). "Bill Shorthouse: Stalwart of the finest Wolves side". The Independent. London. Retrieved 2 November 2016.
- ^ "Player stats: Debuts". wolves-stats.co.uk. Archived from the original on 13 June 2011.
- ^ Alexander, Douglas (4 March 2007). "Lancashire hot Scot". Sunday Times. London. Retrieved 2 November 2016 – via Newsbank.
- ^ "Managers". The Birmingham City FC Archive. Tony Jordan. Archived from the original on 10 April 2003.
- ^ "Football star Bill dies, 86". Express & Star. Wolverhampton. 8 September 2008. Archived from the original on 22 May 2011. Retrieved 8 September 2008.
External links
[edit]- Bill Shorthouse at Soccerbase
- 1922 births
- 2008 deaths
- Footballers from Bilston
- English men's footballers
- Men's association football defenders
- Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. players
- Military personnel from Wolverhampton
- English Football League players
- English football managers
- Birmingham City F.C. managers
- British Army personnel of World War II
- Royal Engineers soldiers
- 20th-century English sportsmen