Name Bill Appleyard Died 1958 | Role Footballer | |
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Willie "Bill" Appleyard (16 November 1878 – 1958) was an English footballer, whose career at the highest level was cut short through injury.
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Football career
Born in Cleethorpes, Lincolnshire, Appleyard was best known for wearing the number nine shirt for Newcastle United. He signed for the club in 1903 from Grimsby Town and went on to win the Championship twice as well as being a finalist in two FA Cup finals. He was known as "Cockles", a reference to a previous job he had as a fisherman. Appleyard stood at 6 ft and weighed over 14 stone. He scored Newcastle's first FA Cup hat-trick - against his former club Grimsby on 7 March 1908.
After playing 145 games for Newcastle and scoring an impressive 87 goals, he was forced to leave the club in 1908 through injury. After leaving Newcastle he signed again for Grimsby Town, although his return lasted only a year, signing for Mansfield Mechanics in 1909. He later retired and returned to the Newcastle area, working in Vickers Shipyards in Wallsend.