Billy Rogers (footballer)

Billy Rogers
Billy Rogers, Welsh international footballer, before Scotland v Wales in 1930
Personal information
Full name William Rogers
Date of birth 1905
Place of birth Summerhill, Wrexham, Wales
Date of death January 1936(1936-01-00) (aged 30–31)
Place of death Penyffordd, Wrexham, Wales
Position Right half
Youth career
1925–26 Flint Town
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1926–1932 Wrexham 171 (28)
1932–1933 Newport County 21 (3)
1933 Bristol Rovers 0 (0)
1933–1934 Leyton Orient 3 (0)
Total 195 (31)
International career
1930 Wales 2 (0)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals

Billy Rogers (1905–1936) was a Welsh international footballer. He was part of the Wales national football team, playing 2 matches. He played his first match on 25 October 1930 against Scotland and his last match on 22 November 1930 against England.[1][2]

Career

He played 2 matches for the Wales national football team in the British Home Championship. He played his first match on 25 October 1930 against Scotland at Ibrox, drawing 1–1,[1] and his second on 22 November 1930 against England at Wrexham's Racecourse Ground, losing 4–0.[2]

He had been previously picked for the FAW's uncapped tour of Canada in 1929.[3]

He started his career as an amateur at Flint Town. He signed professional terms with Wrexham in 1926, and played for them from 1926 until 1931. He was a member of the FAW Welsh Cup-winning side of 1931.

He subsequently played for Newport County, Bristol Rovers, and Clapton Orient, whom he left for Bangor City, a non-league team, at the end of the 1933–34 season.[4]

Later life and death

He was unknowingly diagnosed with Hodgkin's Disease in 1931, a terminal cancer, which contributed to his death in January 1936 from tuberculosis, aged 30.[5]

During the period from 1931 to 1934 he continued to play professionally unaware of his condition, with only his wife being informed. He left behind his wife, Gwennith, and a two month old son Billy.

Honours

Wrexham

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "Scotland vs Wales, 25 October 1930". eu-football.info. Retrieved 30 April 2016.
  2. ^ a b "Wales vs England, 22 November 1930". eu-football.info. Retrieved 30 April 2016.
  3. ^ Morrison, Neil (4 January 2018). "The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 8 September 2018.
  4. ^ Kaufman, Neil (2002). The Men Who Made Leyton Orient Football Club. The History Press. ISBN 0752424122.
  5. ^ Stead, Phil (15 August 2013). "5". Red Dragons - The Story of Welsh Football. Y Lolfa. ISBN 9781847716187. Wrexham's half-back Billy Rogers would die five years later of tuberculosis, aged thirty.