Bill Berry (footballer, born 1904)

William George Berry (18 August 1904 – 15 September 1972), known in England as Bill Berry and in Francophone nations as George Berry or Georges Berry, was an English professional footballer who made over 130 appearances as an outside left in the Football League for Brentford. He also played league football for Gillingham, Charlton Athletic, Crystal Palace and Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic and after his retirement he had a 30-year management career with clubs in France, Belgium, Tunisia and Luxembourg.

Bill Berry
Berry while with Brentford in 1926
Personal information
Full name William George Berry[1]
Date of birth (1904-08-18)18 August 1904
Place of birth Hackney, England
Date of death 15 September 1972(1972-09-15) (aged 68)[2]
Place of death Manor Park, England[2]
Position(s) Outside left
Youth career
Royal Naval Depot
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1923–1924 Charlton Athletic 11 (2)
1924–1926 Gillingham 79 (9)
1926–1932 Brentford 134 (40)
1932–1933 Crystal Palace 17 (4)
1933–1934 Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic 12 (2)
1934–1937 SC Fives
Managerial career
1934–1944 SC Fives
1944–1946 Lille
1946–1948 Lierse
1953–1955 Nice
1955–1956 Club de Hammam-Lif
1956–1958 Étoile du Sahel
1958–1961 Jeunesse Esch
1961–1965 Union Luxembourg
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Playing career

Early years

An outside left, Berry began his career with the Royal Naval Depot team in Chatham, before joining Third Division South club Charlton Athletic in 1923.[3] He made 11 league appearances and scored two goals for the club before moving to Gillingham, of the same division, in February 1924.[3] Berry remained at Priestfield for two-and-a-half seasons and made 87 appearances and scoring 11 goals.[4][5]

Brentford

Together with Gillingham teammates Wally Barnard, Charlie Reddock, Charlie Butler and Joe Craddock, Berry followed former Gillingham manager Harry Curtis to Third Division South club Brentford in May 1926.[6] He failed to fully make the outside left berth his own and was dropped to the reserve team for the 1929–30 season.[6] He returned to the first team in good form during the 1930–31 season, scoring 19 goals in 37 appearances.[7] The signing of Arthur Crompton in February 1932 signalled the beginning of the end of Berry's time at Griffin Park and after making just one appearance during the early months of the 1932–33 season, he left the club in November 1932.[6] He made 148 appearances and scored 44 goals in just over five seasons with the Bees.[6]

Later career

In November 1932, Berry joined Third Division South club Crystal Palace in a part-exchange deal which saw Idris Hopkins move to Brentford.[6] In what remained of the 1932–33 season, Berry scored four goals in 17 appearances, but in an unlucky twist, he lost his place to new signing Arthur Crompton, whose signing had cost him his place at Brentford a year earlier.[6] He closed out his Football League career with a short spell at Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic, before moving to France to join National club SC Fives in 1934, where he remained until his retirement as a player in 1937.[6]

Managerial career

Berry had a long and successful management career in France, Belgium, Tunisia and Luxembourg.[8][9][10][11][12][13] He won the double with Lille OSC in the 1945–46 season and a Coupe de France with OGC Nice in 1953–54.[14] Berry won the Tunisian National Championship twice, in 1955–56 with CS Hammam-Lif and in 1957–58 with Étoile Sportive du Sahel.[10][15] He twice won the Luxembourg National Division with Jeunesse Esch (1958–59 and 1959–60) and once with Union Luxembourg (1961–62), in addition to one Luxembourg Cup with the latter club.[16][17]

Personal life

Berry was married to Winifred and had three children.[18]

Career statistics
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League FA Cup Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Gillingham 1923–24[4] Third Division South 16 1 — 16 1
1924–25[4] 37 3 6 1 43 4
1925–26[4] 26 5 2 1 28 6
Total 79 9 8 2 87 11
Brentford 1926–27[7] Third Division South 22 5 2 0 24 5
1927–28[7] 25 6 1 0 26 6
1928–29[7] 23 5 1 0 24 5
1930–31[7] 32 18 5 1 37 19
1931–32[7] 31 6 5 2 36 8
1932–33[7] 1 0 — 1 0
Total 134 40 14 3 148 44
Crystal Palace 1932–33[1] Third Division South 17 4 0 0 17 4
Career total 230 53 22 5 252 59

Honours

Lille

Nice

  • Coupe de France: 1953–54[14]

CS Hammam-Lif

Étoile Sportive du Sahel

  • Tunisian National Championship: 1957–58[15]

Jeunesse Esch

Union Luxembourg

References
  1. Joyce, Michael (2012). Football League Players' Records 1888 to 1939. Nottingham: Tony Brown. p. 25. ISBN 978-1905891610.
  2. "William George Berry". geni_family_tree. Retrieved 14 December 2017.
  3. "Berry Bill Gillingham 1924". Vintage Footballers. Retrieved 14 December 2017.
  4. "Gillingham FC Career Details – Bill Berry". Retrieved 13 December 2017.
  5. Triggs, Roger (2001). The Men Who Made Gillingham Football Club. Tempus Publishing Ltd. p. 12. ISBN 0-7524-2243-X.
  6. Haynes, Graham; Coumbe, Frank (2006). Timeless Bees: Brentford F.C. Who's Who 1920–2006. Yore Publications. p. 20. ISBN 978-0955294914.
  7. White, Eric, ed. (1989). 100 Years Of Brentford. Brentford FC. pp. 369–372. ISBN 0951526200.
  8. "World Cup Connections – France". Retrieved 14 December 2017.
  9. "France – Trainers of First and Second Division Clubs". RSSSF. Retrieved 4 February 2018.
  10. "Entraîneurs". hamhama.com. Archived from the original on 1 July 2016. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  11. "Bienvenue sur le site officiel de l'Etoile Sportive du Sahel". etoile-du-sahel.com. Archived from the original on 29 October 2007. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  12. "Archive". Archived from the original on 4 April 2016. Retrieved 26 March 2016.
  13. Alencar. "Futebol: Técnicos Campeões do Campeonato Luxemburguês". tudosobrefutebol-alencar.blogspot.com. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  14. "Coupes – Joueurs – FFF". Fédération Française de Football. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  15. "Les Entraineurs De L'histoire Du Club – Khaledysami – 2001–2002". Etoile Sportive Du Sahel – Ess Net. Retrieved 14 December 2017.
  16. "Luxembourg – List of Champions". RSSSF. Retrieved 14 December 2017.
  17. "William George Berry :: US Luxembourg :: Statistics :: Titles :: Titles (in-depth) :: Career :: Games :: News & Features :: Videos :: Photos". www.thefinalball.com. Retrieved 14 December 2017.
  18. "Winifred Marguerite Goodrich". geni_family_tree. Retrieved 14 December 2017.
  19. "Tunisia – List of Final Tables". RSSSF. Retrieved 14 December 2017.
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