Billy Moffatt

William John Moffatt (30 June 1897 – 17 October 1952) was a Scottish professional footballer who played as a wing half or full back in the Scottish League for Bo'ness and in the English Football League for Portsmouth and Brighton & Hove Albion.


Billy Moffatt
Personal information
Full name William John Moffatt[1]
Date of birth (1897-06-30)30 June 1897[1]
Place of birth Bellshill, Scotland
Date of death 17 October 1952(1952-10-17) (aged 55)[1]
Place of death Southsea, England
Height 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)[1]
Position(s) Wing half, full back
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1923–192? Bellshill Athletic
192?–1925 Bo'ness
1925–1930 Portsmouth 130 (2)
1930–1932 Brighton & Hove Albion 21 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Life and career

Moffatt was born in Bellshill, Lanarkshire, in 1897.[2] He played junior football for Bellshill Athletic before joining Bo'ness of Division Two.[2] He captained the team to the quarter-finals of the 1922–23 Scottish Cup, in which they performed well in a 4–2 defeat to Division One club Motherwell despite being handicapped by an injury to Moffatt.[3]

In 1925, he signed for English Second Division club Portsmouth. He soon established himself in the team, and was ever-present in the 1926–27 season in which they were promoted to the First Division.[4] He took his appearance total to 138 before being released in 1930 to join Brighton & Hove Albion of the Third Division South. He was already 32 years old, and Albion used him as a standby player to cover at right back and wing half.[1] In his first season, he contributed to a run of 16 league matches unbeaten that remained a club record until 2015.[5] After two seasons and 23 appearances, he left the Football League for non-league football in the Hampshire area.[1][6]

Moffatt died in Southsea, Hampshire, in 1952 at the age of 55.[1]

References
  1. Carder, Tim; Harris, Roger (1997). Albion A–Z: A Who's Who of Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. Hove: Goldstone Books. p. 172. ISBN 978-0-9521337-1-1.
  2. Joyce, Michael (2004). Football League Players' Records 1888 to 1939. Nottingham: SoccerData. p. 187. ISBN 978-1-899468-67-6.
  3. "Ferguson's flashes". Athletic News. Manchester. 26 February 1923. p. 8.
  4. "Portsmouth Football Club History: 1920–1929: The Football League". The Pompey Chimes. Retrieved 11 December 2018.
  5. Owen, Brian (8 November 2015). "How PoW Charlie took over as Albion boss – and set a record which stood for almost 85 years". The Argus. Brighton. Retrieved 12 December 2018.
  6. "Portsmouth's promising young footballers". Portsmouth Evening News. 27 September 1934. p. 8.


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