The Story of the Wolves – Part 13
IN a generally unsuccessful decade for the club, these cartoons focus upon one of the more notable Wolves players, William Edwin Beats.
Like goalkeeper Tom Baddeley, Billy Beats began his career with Burslem Port Vale, before being sold on to Wolverhampton Wanderers for £80 in June 1895.
According to cartoon 28 he was discovered by Jack Addenbrooke whilst mending a chapel roof.
He made his debut and scored in a 5-1 win over Burnley on 2nd September. He was a member of the unsuccessful FA Cup final team later that same campaign.
Billy scored 73 goals in 218 games for the Wanderers across eight seasons, top scoring with 10 and 12 goals in all competitions in the 1896-97 and 1897-98 seasons.
He picked up two full England caps as cen
tre-forward, the first on the 18th March 1901 against Wales at Newcastle.
Billy’s second outing for his country was against Scotland on a less auspicious day, April 5th 1902, the occasion of the Ibrox Disaster.
This saw the collapse of a stand at Ibrox Park (now Ibrox Stadium) in Glasgow, Scotland, which led to the deaths of 25 (although the cartoon records 23 killed) and injuries to more than 500 supporters.
Tragedy
During the first half of the match, part of the new West Tribune Stand collapsed, throwing between 200 and 300 people to a concrete floor below. In spite of the tragedy the match continued and ended in a 1-1 draw, although it was later agreed that the outcome be declared null and void.
A replay took place a month later at Villa Park, with the proceeds being donated to victims of the disaster.