William Kirby (21 June 1883 – 3 October 1917), sometimes known as Bill Kirby or 'Sunny Jim' Kirby, was an English professional footballer, who played as an inside left and is best remembered for his time in the Southern League with Portsmouth, for whom he made over 270 appearances in all competitions. He also played in the Football League for hometown club Preston North End.
Career
Born in Preston, Lancashire, Kirby started his career at Emmanuel Rovers and joined First Division club Preston North End in November 1900. He would not play competitively for Preston until 1911, but the club kept his registration and he spent much of the next decade on loan to Southern League clubs.
After a season at Oswaldtwistle Rovers, Kirby joined Southern League First Division club Swindon Town as a half-back in August 1902. The following season, he joined West Ham United and played mainly as an outside-right, but also made three appearances as a centre-forward. He scored on his debut, against Millwall, and missed just one game that season, the final game against Swindon Town.
After returning to Swindon Town for another season, he moved to Portsmouth, where he would spend the next seven seasons. He was Portsmouth's top scorer in 1906–07, when the club finished as runners-up in the Southern League First Division. By October 1910, he had scored 100 goals and received a £220 benefit from the club. West Ham United In all Kirby scored 81 goals in 224 Southern League appearances, as well as 22 goals in 36 Western League appearances and four in 12 FA Cup outings.
Kirby was re-called by Preston for the 1911–12 season, where he was top scorer and earned a Second Division championship medal.
He then had spells at Exeter City, Merthyr Town and Croydon Common, playing in their last ever match, before spending the 1916–17 season at Brentford.
Military career and death Kirby served in the Royal Engineers during the First World War, prior to being invalided out and working at the Royal Arsenal. He re-enlisted in 1917 and saw action with the 6th (Pioneer) Battalion, attached to the East Yorkshire Regiment, at the Battle of Polygon Wood (part of the Battle of Passchendaele). He was killed in action during the offensive in October of that year. He is buried at Bard Cottage Cemetery in West Flanders, Belgium.
Honours Preston North End Football League Second Division: 1912–13
Career statistics + Appearances and goals by club, season and competitionClubSeasonLeagueFA CupTotalDivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsPreston North End1911–12First Division38141039141912–13Second Division17800178Total5522105622Swindon Town (loan)1902–03Southern League First Division286553311West Ham United (loan)1903–04Southern League First Division3310313611Swindon Town (loan)1904–05Southern League First Division19222214Swindon Town Total478775415Portsmouth (loan)1904–05Southern League First Division112—1121905–06286112971906–0736213139221907–0836112038111908–0938113241131909–1041212043211910–1134910359Total2248112423685Exeter City1913–14Southern League First Division50—50Merthyr Town1913–14Southern League First Division24452296Career Total3881252814416139
References