Blackpool's Oldest Surviving Player Passes Away
William (Billy) Park 1919 -2016
Billy Park was born in Gateshead on 23 February 1919 and was regarded as a 'clever inside forward who also plays left half' throughout his junior career. He was signed by Blackpool as an amateur on 12 September 1934 from Felling Red Star FC. The north east club was sent a donation of £20 in recognition of allowing Park to sign.
Blackpool signed him after watching him play for his club against Newcastle United reserves when eight other League clubs including the likes of Everton, Sunderland and Bradford were reportedly interested in signing him. He was a schoolboy international.
Sir Lindsay Parkinson, Blackpool's chairman, got him a clerical job in Catterall and Swarbrick’s brewery at Talbot Road and he went to night school to study mechanical engineering. And to give him more footballing experience, Blackpool loaned him out, short-term, to Leyland Motors FC in October 1934.
He returned to the club and made his Central League debut at inside left in a 3-0 win over Oldham Athletic reserves on 15 December 1934. It was to be his only senior appearance of the season.
He was offered £2 10s 0d [£2.50] in February 1936 to turn professional but he requested £4. Blackpool’s Board of Directors decided to wait and watch him in another game in the Northern Mid Week League before deciding what action to take. He was later offered £3 per week to the end of the 1935/36 season or £3 10s 0d [£3.50] if he trained full time. When he returned home to the north east, long-time Blackpool player Albert Watson, who had lived in the same street in the north east, called to see him and his mother to 'point out the merits of the club’s offer'. As an ambassador for the club, Watson advised him to sign as a professional.
When Blackpool defeated Oldham Athletic 4-0 on 26 February 1936 in the North West Mid-Week League side the critics commented that there was 'a lot of promise in the play of Park, a stubborn defensive centre half'.
He was still undecided about signing as a professional in March 1936 and he refused an increased offer of £4 per week that would have been his wage providing he was in full-time training. To resolve the situation, in April 1936 his mother was invited down to Blackpool from the north east to discuss the issue of him signing as a professional. On his behalf, she stated that the minimum he would be prepared to accept was £5 per week during the season. However, he eventually signed on 29 April 1936 at a wage of £4 10s 0d [£4.50] per week for the rest of the season and for the 1937/38 season. His weekly wage during the summer was £3.
He made no senior appearances for the club in the 1935/36 and 1936/37 seasons, playing only in the Northern Mid-Week League side and in the Blackpool ‘A’ side.
However, he made his first Central League appearance of the 1937/38 season at left back in a 0-0 draw with Bolton Wanderers on 6 September 1937 and he finished the 1937/38 season with 27 Central League appearances to his name.
Once more he refused the terms of £3 10s 0d [£3.50] summer, £4 10s 0d [£4.50] winter plus an extra £2 if and when he played in the first team for the 1938/39 season but he did remain with the club on his previous terms.
After continuing in the Central League side and having a north east newspaper headline Billy Park is Making a Big Hit with Blackpool in late October 1938, he finally made his League debut, a late replacement for influenza victim Eric Hayward, at centre half in a 1-0 victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers on 31 December 1938 when it was said, 'He is no stranger to the position but he had played his first games for Blackpool as a full back [sic]'. Hayward returned for the following game and Park reverted to the Central League side.
He returned to the League side when he replaced the injured Malcolm Butler at left back for the game anther 4-0 victory, this time against Middlesbrough on 15 April 1938. And his final game of the season was against Brentford on 29 April 1938 when another late training injury to Eric Hayward allowed him a further game at centre half. Blackpool drew 1-1 when he 'revealed plenty of composure and before the end was settling to his game in an unfamiliar position … but in the first half-hour he was in a force whose clearances were always a dozen yards short or hurriedly mis-hit to the wrong man'. The after-match comment was 'William Park may one day be a centre half in the old tradition. Not for him, however intense the pressure facing him, a clearance anywhere. Yet in this game there was probably not the decision in his game which a desperate retreat demanded. This young man nevertheless has such composure that one day he will come.'
He ended the 1938/39 season having played in three League games and 35 Central League games.
He was re signed by Blackpool for the (later aborted) 1939/40 season at a wage of £4 10s 0d [£4.50] summer, £5 10s 0d [£5.50] winter plus £2 extra when appearing in the first team. But Herr Hitler intervened and by January 1940 he was reported as being 'in khaki', serving much of his time as a Physical Training Instructor (PTI) in Northern Ireland, where he played a number of games for Distillery. During wartime he also played a number of games as a guest for Gateshead, Middlesbrough and Bath City.
He was transfer listed by Blackpool at a fee of £500 in March 1946 although he was offered terms for the 1946/47 season of £5 summer, £6 winter and £10 if and when playing in the first team. Knowing that he was transfer-listed, Horden Colliery Welfare offered him a post as player-manager, with the added bonus of a house, but Blackpool manager Joe Smith would not allow him to go even though he had still not re signed for Blackpool in September 1946. He then asked to be given a free transfer.
He was finally transferred to York City in September 1946 with another Blackpool player, Leslie Forster, for a combined fee of £450 plus an extra £300 if Park played in 12 first team games. He played in 26 League games for York in the 1946/47 season, scoring one goal and presumably Blackpool received their extra £300 based on the number of his appearances. He had played three League games and 63 Central League games for Blackpool.
While at York he studied electrical engineering so as to enhance his career prospects with the British Railways, where he had found employment. National Service prevented him from playing for York City in the 1947/48 season and he joined non-league Scarborough as a part-time player in the 1948 close season. He retained his job with the railways in York while playing for Scarborough.
He subsequently moved with his job to Bath and then to Newton Abbot, Devon, where, having been Blackpool's oldest surviving player, he died on 19 July 2016.
Billy Park was born in Gateshead on 23 February 1919 and was regarded as a 'clever inside forward who also plays left half' throughout his junior career. He was signed by Blackpool as an amateur on 12 September 1934 from Felling Red Star FC. The north east club was sent a donation of £20 in recognition of allowing Park to sign.
Blackpool signed him after watching him play for his club against Newcastle United reserves when eight other League clubs including the likes of Everton, Sunderland and Bradford were reportedly interested in signing him. He was a schoolboy international.
Sir Lindsay Parkinson, Blackpool's chairman, got him a clerical job in Catterall and Swarbrick’s brewery at Talbot Road and he went to night school to study mechanical engineering. And to give him more footballing experience, Blackpool loaned him out, short-term, to Leyland Motors FC in October 1934.
He returned to the club and made his Central League debut at inside left in a 3-0 win over Oldham Athletic reserves on 15 December 1934. It was to be his only senior appearance of the season.
He was offered £2 10s 0d [£2.50] in February 1936 to turn professional but he requested £4. Blackpool’s Board of Directors decided to wait and watch him in another game in the Northern Mid Week League before deciding what action to take. He was later offered £3 per week to the end of the 1935/36 season or £3 10s 0d [£3.50] if he trained full time. When he returned home to the north east, long-time Blackpool player Albert Watson, who had lived in the same street in the north east, called to see him and his mother to 'point out the merits of the club’s offer'. As an ambassador for the club, Watson advised him to sign as a professional.
When Blackpool defeated Oldham Athletic 4-0 on 26 February 1936 in the North West Mid-Week League side the critics commented that there was 'a lot of promise in the play of Park, a stubborn defensive centre half'.
He was still undecided about signing as a professional in March 1936 and he refused an increased offer of £4 per week that would have been his wage providing he was in full-time training. To resolve the situation, in April 1936 his mother was invited down to Blackpool from the north east to discuss the issue of him signing as a professional. On his behalf, she stated that the minimum he would be prepared to accept was £5 per week during the season. However, he eventually signed on 29 April 1936 at a wage of £4 10s 0d [£4.50] per week for the rest of the season and for the 1937/38 season. His weekly wage during the summer was £3.
He made no senior appearances for the club in the 1935/36 and 1936/37 seasons, playing only in the Northern Mid-Week League side and in the Blackpool ‘A’ side.
However, he made his first Central League appearance of the 1937/38 season at left back in a 0-0 draw with Bolton Wanderers on 6 September 1937 and he finished the 1937/38 season with 27 Central League appearances to his name.
Once more he refused the terms of £3 10s 0d [£3.50] summer, £4 10s 0d [£4.50] winter plus an extra £2 if and when he played in the first team for the 1938/39 season but he did remain with the club on his previous terms.
After continuing in the Central League side and having a north east newspaper headline Billy Park is Making a Big Hit with Blackpool in late October 1938, he finally made his League debut, a late replacement for influenza victim Eric Hayward, at centre half in a 1-0 victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers on 31 December 1938 when it was said, 'He is no stranger to the position but he had played his first games for Blackpool as a full back [sic]'. Hayward returned for the following game and Park reverted to the Central League side.
He returned to the League side when he replaced the injured Malcolm Butler at left back for the game anther 4-0 victory, this time against Middlesbrough on 15 April 1938. And his final game of the season was against Brentford on 29 April 1938 when another late training injury to Eric Hayward allowed him a further game at centre half. Blackpool drew 1-1 when he 'revealed plenty of composure and before the end was settling to his game in an unfamiliar position … but in the first half-hour he was in a force whose clearances were always a dozen yards short or hurriedly mis-hit to the wrong man'. The after-match comment was 'William Park may one day be a centre half in the old tradition. Not for him, however intense the pressure facing him, a clearance anywhere. Yet in this game there was probably not the decision in his game which a desperate retreat demanded. This young man nevertheless has such composure that one day he will come.'
He ended the 1938/39 season having played in three League games and 35 Central League games.
He was re signed by Blackpool for the (later aborted) 1939/40 season at a wage of £4 10s 0d [£4.50] summer, £5 10s 0d [£5.50] winter plus £2 extra when appearing in the first team. But Herr Hitler intervened and by January 1940 he was reported as being 'in khaki', serving much of his time as a Physical Training Instructor (PTI) in Northern Ireland, where he played a number of games for Distillery. During wartime he also played a number of games as a guest for Gateshead, Middlesbrough and Bath City.
He was transfer listed by Blackpool at a fee of £500 in March 1946 although he was offered terms for the 1946/47 season of £5 summer, £6 winter and £10 if and when playing in the first team. Knowing that he was transfer-listed, Horden Colliery Welfare offered him a post as player-manager, with the added bonus of a house, but Blackpool manager Joe Smith would not allow him to go even though he had still not re signed for Blackpool in September 1946. He then asked to be given a free transfer.
He was finally transferred to York City in September 1946 with another Blackpool player, Leslie Forster, for a combined fee of £450 plus an extra £300 if Park played in 12 first team games. He played in 26 League games for York in the 1946/47 season, scoring one goal and presumably Blackpool received their extra £300 based on the number of his appearances. He had played three League games and 63 Central League games for Blackpool.
While at York he studied electrical engineering so as to enhance his career prospects with the British Railways, where he had found employment. National Service prevented him from playing for York City in the 1947/48 season and he joined non-league Scarborough as a part-time player in the 1948 close season. He retained his job with the railways in York while playing for Scarborough.
He subsequently moved with his job to Bath and then to Newton Abbot, Devon, where, having been Blackpool's oldest surviving player, he died on 19 July 2016.
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