Bill Purves
Irish footballer
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
William Michael Purves (1870 – after 1900) was an Irish professional footballer who played as a right back. He made 40 appearances in the Football League, playing for Small Heath in the 1890s.[1] He played three times for the Irish League representative team.[2][3]
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | William Michael Purves | ||
| Date of birth | 1870 | ||
| Place of birth | Belfast, Ireland | ||
| Date of death | Unknown | ||
| Position | Right back | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 18??–1893 | Glentoran | ||
| 1893–1897 | Birmingham[a] | 40 | (0) |
| 1897–1??? | Glentoran | ||
| International career | |||
| 1894–1898 | Irish League | 3 | (0) |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Purves was born in Belfast and played for Glentoran before coming to England to join Small Heath[4] in March 1894. He played in the last three matches of the 1893–94 Football League regular season and in the test match that confirmed their ascent to the First Division.[1][5] He played every game of the club's first top-flight season, but lost his place to Frank Lester in 1895–96[6] and returned to Glentoran. From 1900 he acted as Glentoran's trainer.[4]
Notes
- The Matthews source misattributes to Purves a League appearance made by Bernard Pumfrey on 30 December 1893, some time before Purves joined Small Heath.
