Reginald Boyne (16 November 1891 – 10 March 1963) was a New Zealand professional footballer who played as an inside forward in the Football League for Aston Villa and Brentford.
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Boyne while with Brentford in 1920. | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Reginald Boyne[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1891-11-16)16 November 1891 | ||
| Place of birth | Leeds, England | ||
| Date of death | 10 March 1963(1963-03-10) (aged 71)[2] | ||
| Place of death | Auckland, New Zealand | ||
| Position(s) | Inside forward | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Everton | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1913–1919 | Aston Villa | 13 | (0) |
| → Notts County (guest) | |||
| 1916–1917 | → Leicester Fosse (guest) | 23 | (2) |
| → Loughborough Brush (guest) | |||
| 1919–1921 | Brentford | 48 | (23) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||

Boyne began his career in intermediate football in Auckland, New Zealand with Everton, which was named after the English club, before travelling to England to play junior football in Yorkshire.[3]

Boyne joined high-flying First Division club Aston Villa on trial in August 1913 and was awarded a professional contract in December that year.[3] He made his professional debut in a 1–0 defeat to Bradford City on 27 December 1913.[4] Boyne made just three further appearances during the 1913–14 season and only managed four appearances during the whole of the 1914–15 season,[4] before competitive football was suspended due to the ongoing First World War. Boyne made a further five wartime appearances for Villa, before departing in August 1919.[3]
During the First World War, Boyne appeared as a guest for Notts County, Leicester Fosse and Loughborough Brush.[2][3] He made 23 appearances and scored two goals in the Football League Midland Section for Leicester.[5][6]
Boyne joined Southern League First Division club Brentford in August 1919.[7] Despite suffering with knee trouble,[8] Boyne had a good 1919–20 season, top-scoring with 13 goals.[7] He was retained for the 1920–21 season and received another chance at league football, with Brentford having entered into the newly created Third Division.[7] Boyne had the honour of scoring Brentford's first Football League goal, which came with the only goal of the game versus Millwall on 30 August 1920.[9] In a dire debut season (at the end of which the Bees had to apply for re-election), Boyne scored 10 goals in 22 games.[9] He was released in May 1921 and returned to New Zealand.[7]
Born in Leeds as the eldest son of William Boyne and Mary Ellen Waddington, Boyne emigrated to New Zealand with his family at a young age.[7] Boyne's father was president of the Everton club in Auckland, where he and both his younger brothers, Harold and William played before the First World War broke out.[10] Harold was killed in action on the Western Front on 21 February 1917.[11][12]
| Club | Season | League | FA Cup | Total | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Aston Villa | 1913–14[4] | First Division | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| 1914–15[4] | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | ||
| Total | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | ||
| Brentford | 1919–20[9] | Southern League First Division | 27 | 13 | 1 | 0 | 28 | 13 |
| 1920–21[9] | Third Division | 21 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 22 | 10 | |
| Total | 48 | 23 | 2 | 0 | 50 | 23 | ||
| Career Total | 56 | 23 | 2 | 0 | 58 | 23 | ||