Billy Meredith

“The Welsh Wizard’’

Billy Meredith, “the Welsh Wizard’’, is widely regarded as the game’s first superstar Meredith came from Welsh mining stock, and he himself was working underground by the age of 12. His parents were eventually persuaded to allow him to pursue a career in football and Meredith joined Manchester City in 1894. He quickly established himself as a skilful, free-scoring winger and became known for the fact that he never took to the field without a toothpick to chew on.

By 1904 30-year-old Meredith was City’s captain, and scored the only goal of the game in that year’s FA Cup Final win over Bolton. Meredith was banned for eight months after allegedly attempting to bribe an Aston Villa player before a vital league match in April 1905. He denied the charge and when the ban was lifted he moved across the city to join Manchester United. He helped United to win the FA Cup in 1909 and the championship in 1910-11. He rejoined Manchester City in 1921 as a player-coach. He finally hung up his boots three years later when he was four months short of his 50th birthday. His swansong came in City’s 1924 FA Cup semi-final defeat by Newcastle. He had played 48 times for Wales between 1895 and 1920, winning the last of his caps when he was 45.

Meredith was at the forefront of a campaign to end the ?4 maximum wage that was in force in the early 1900s. That figure was increased to ?5 as a result, and the roots of the PFA can be traced back to the Welshman’s early efforts to establish a Players’ Union.

Billy Meredith, a tough, talented and controversial player who captained Wales and played for both Manchester City and Manchester United in a 30-year career which ended in 1924. Instrumental in setting the foundations for a Players* Union, he was also banned for a season for reportedly attempting to bribe an Aston Villa player in a match-fixing scandal.