William McCourty

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William McCourty
Personal information
Full name William McCourty
Date of birth 1888
Place of birth Carlisle,[1] England
Date of death 10 December 1917 (1917-12-11) (aged 29)
Place of death West Flanders,[1] Belgium
Position(s) Left half
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
North Seaton
1909–1910 Birmingham 1 (0)
1910–1915 Birmingham Corporation Tramways
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

William McCourty (1888 – 10 December 1917) was an English professional footballer who played in the Football League for Birmingham.[2]

Life and career[edit]

McCourty was born in late 1888 in Carlisle, Cumberland, to Scottish parents, John McCourty, who worked as a joiner, and his wife, Agnes.[3][4] At the time of the 1901 Census, the 12-year-old McCourty was working as a draper's errand boy to help his two older brothers support their widowed mother and four younger siblings.[5] He went on to work as a coal miner,[6] and played minor football for North Seaton in the Wansbeck League before a trial with Football League Second Division club Birmingham led to a contract.[7]

Commenting on one of the pre-season practice matches – a fund-raiser for the Birmingham Women's Hospital – the Birmingham Gazette wrote that McCourty, playing at left half, "was in his element. When acting in defence he was a veritable stumbling block, and well he might be, for Banks gave him a warm time. However, he acquitted himself creditably".[8] McCourty made his club and Football League debut on 13 September 1909, deputising for the injured Tom Daykin in a home game against Glossop which finished as a 2–2 draw.[6] He made no more first-team appearances,[9] and was not re-engaged at the end of the season.[10]

McCourty remained in the Birmingham area, found employment as a conductor for Birmingham Corporation Tramways,[11] and played for its football team in the Birmingham Combination.[12] He married Emily Brown, a cycle finisher, in 1912,[13][14] and their son William Donald was born in late 1915, by which time McCourty had moved on to driving the trams.[15] Emily's younger sister Amy married another Birmingham footballer, Alec McClure.[16][17][14]

During the First World War, McCourty initially continued as a tram driver and played football in fund-raising matches[18] (and appeared once for Birmingham in the wartime league[19]). He then served as a gunner with 119th Siege Battery, Royal Garrison Artillery. He was killed in action in West Flanders on 10 December 1917, at the age of 29, and buried in Ypres Reservoir Cemetery.[20][1] In November 2018, an oak tree was planted at Birmingham City's training ground in memory of McCourty and the five other Birmingham players who died serving their country during the First World War.[21]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c "Casualty details: Gunner William McCourty". Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Retrieved 9 January 2021.
  2. ^ Joyce, Michael (2004). Football League Players' Records 1888 to 1939. Nottingham: SoccerData. p. 165. ISBN 978-1-899468-67-6.
  3. ^ "William McCourty in the England & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1837–1915". Ancestry.com. Retrieved 9 January 2021.
  4. ^ "1891 England Census for William McCourty". RG12/4289 75 – via Ancestry.com.
  5. ^ "1901 England Census for William Mc Carty". RG13/4868 23 – via Ancestry.com.
  6. ^ a b Matthews (1995), p. 108.
  7. ^ "Football". Morpeth Herald. 28 August 1909. p. 7. Wm. McCurty, who last season played for North Seaton in the half-back line, has this week signed the necessary papers for the Birmingham Football Club.
  8. ^ "Birmingham F.C. Successful practice match at St. Andrew's". Birmingham Gazette. 24 August 1909. p. 8.
  9. ^ Matthews (1995), p. 156.
  10. ^ "Birmingham". Cricket and Football Field. 20 August 1910. p. 2.
  11. ^ "1911 England Census for William McGourty". RG14/18209 – via Ancestry.com.
  12. ^ "Football. Redditch draw with the Trams". Alcester Chronicle. 29 October 1910. p. 6.
    "Successful Strollers". Walsall Advertiser. 13 February 1915. p. 8.
  13. ^ "William McCourty in the England & Wales, Civil Registration Marriage Index, 1837–1915". Retrieved 9 January 2021 – via Ancestry.com.
  14. ^ a b "1911 England Census for Emily Brown". RG14/18172 – via Ancestry.com.
  15. ^ "Birmingham, England, Church of England Baptisms, 1813–1919 for William Mccourty". Bordesley, Holy Trinity, No. 102 – via Ancestry.com.
  16. ^ "A Birmingham F.C. player killed". Birmingham Daily Post. 31 December 1917. p. 5.
  17. ^ "Amy Brown in the England & Wales, Civil Registration Marriage Index, 1837–1915". Retrieved 9 January 2021 – via Ancestry.com.
  18. ^ "Football. Capital exhibition at Tamworth". Tamworth Herald. 13 May 1916. p. 2.
  19. ^ Matthews (1995), p. 233.
  20. ^ "William McCourty Service Record". Football and the First World War. Retrieved 9 January 2021.
  21. ^ "Blues create legacy to fallen heroes". Birmingham City F.C. 6 November 2018. Retrieved 9 January 2021.

Sources[edit]

  • Matthews, Tony (1995). Birmingham City: A Complete Record. Derby: Breedon Books. ISBN 978-1-85983-010-9.
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