How do I find out more about my footballing relation?
QI’m researching my great great uncle George Horton. In the 1911 census, he was living with my great grandmother Elizabeth and my great grandfather Samuel at 51 Emscote Road, Aston. His occupation was “football player”. Was he a professional player?
Stephanie Bates
AThe answer may lie in local newspapers, which can be searched at the British Newspaper Archive ( britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk) and Findmypast ( findmypast.co.uk). On 1 October 1909 the Coventry Telegraph revealed that a “G Horton” had been chosen as centre forward to play for Coventry City Reserves in the South East Football League. He appeared in the forwards, was “an amateur” and “hailed from the Arden Hill area of Birmingham”.
At the opening of the 1910/11 season, the same G Horton played for Dudley B team against Dudley A team on the wing in a practice match. The Dudley Chronicle reported: “The amateur G Horton belongs to Coventry City and gave a good opinion. He is a good sprinter and knows how to carry a ball and when to centre it. He should find a position in the team.” He did, and for the next few games, at least, played for Dudley in the Birmingham and District League. This was a fairly high standard, since the league included the first teams of Stoke and Walsall plus the reserves of Wolves and West Bromwich Albion.
So is this your George Horton? We know that he was living/boarding with relations less than 10 miles from Dudley, and if you search the newspapers for a “Horton” playing for Coventry City in about 1909/10 and Dudley from 1910 onwards, you may find more references to him.
Finally, for advice about how to locate the archives of football clubs, see my article on page 19.