Percy Barnfather MC (17 December 1879 – 18 December 1951) was an English professional footballer, who made 265 appearances and scored 85 goals in all competitions as an outside right for Croydon Common, before and during the First World War.
![]() Barnfather while with New Brompton | |||
Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Full name | Percy Barnfather[1] | ||
Date of birth | (1879-12-17)17 December 1879 | ||
Place of birth | Byker, England | ||
Date of death | 18 December 1951(1951-12-18) (aged 72)[2] | ||
Place of death | Westminster, England | ||
Height |
5 ft 2 in (1.57 m) – 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m) (depending on source quoted) | ||
Position(s) | Outside right | ||
Youth career | |||
Throckley | |||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
1900–1903 | Wallsend Park Villa | ||
1903–1904 | Barnsley | 27 | (3) |
1904–1906 | New Brompton | 39 | (4) |
1906 | Southampton | ||
1906–1907 | West Stanley | ||
1907–1909 | Croydon Common | 25 | (16) |
1909–1910 | Norwich City | 32 | (4) |
1910–1911 | Croydon Common | 15 | (10) |
1911–1912 | West Stanley | ||
1912–1916 | Croydon Common | 81 | (18) |
1919–1920 | Merthyr Town | 4 | (0) |
*Club domestic league appearances and goals |
An outside right, Barnfather joined Second Division club Barnsley in 1903 and made 25 appearances during the 1903–04 season, scoring four goals.[2] In June 1904, he joined Southern League First Division club New Brompton and remained at Priestfield for two seasons.[2] After a non-playing spell with Southampton,[3] he spent the 1906–07 season back in his native northeast with North Eastern League club West Stanley.[2] Barnfather returned to the Southern League to join Second Division club Croydon Common in August 1907 and aside from a spell with Norwich City and a second spell with West Stanley, he would spend the majority of the remainder of his career with the Robins.[2] Barnfather's professional career with Croydon Common came to an end at the end of the 1914–15 season, by which time he had made 140 appearances and scored 48 goals during three spells at The Nest.[2] He finished his career with a short spell at Southern League First Division club Merthyr Town during the 1919–20 season, under manager and former Croydon Common teammate Harry Hadley.[2]
Barnfather was born in Byker and attended Welleck Road School in Newcastle.[2] He was a plumber and engineer by trade and was married with three children.[2] After retiring from football, Barnfather worked in a clerical role in the Ministry of Supply.[2] He died of stomach cancer in 1951 and is buried in Croydon.[4]
In December 1914, four months after the outbreak of the First World War, Barnfather enlisted as a private in the Football Battalion of the Middlesex Regiment.[5] Through the course of his service, he rose from private to captain and won the Military Cross in 1918.[2][6]
![]() | This section needs expansion with:
|
Club | Season | League | FA Cup | Total | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
Barnsley | 1903–04[1] | Second Division | 27 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 27 | 3 |
New Brompton | 1904–05[7] | Southern League First Division | 17 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 19 | 4 |
1905–06[7] | 22 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 24 | 0 | ||
Total | 39 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 43 | 4 | ||
Croydon Common | 1907–08[2] | Southern League Second Division | 13 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 14 | 2 |
1908–09[2] | 12 | 14 | 9 | 1 | 21 | 15 | ||
Total | 25 | 16 | 10 | 1 | 35 | 17 | ||
Norwich City | 1909–10[2] | Southern League First Division | 32 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 34 | 4 |
Croydon Common | 1910–11[2] | Southern League Second Division | 15 | 10 | 2 | 3 | 17 | 13 |
Croydon Common | 1912–13[2] | Southern League Second Division | 15 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 19 | 4 |
1913–14[2] | 30 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 31 | 8 | ||
1914–15[2] | Southern League First Division | 36 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 38 | 6 | |
Total | 121 | 44 | 19 | 4 | 140 | 48 | ||
Merthyr Town | 1919–20[2] | Southern League First Division | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
Career total | 223 | 55 | 27 | 4 | 250 | 59 |
Croydon Common
![]() ![]() | This biographical article related to association football in England, about a forward born in the 1870s, is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |