The Bristol Rovers History Group. |
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Arthur Buttery. 1939-40.
Born, 20.12.1908, Hednesford. Died, 1990, Staffordshire. Career: St Peter’s Church; Hednesford Town; November 1929 Wolverhampton Wanderers (£450) [10,6]; 1932 Bury (£1,000) [104,38]; 24.1.37 Bradford City [35,13]; June 1938 Walsall [15,4]; 1939 Bristol Rovers; 1946 Stourbridge; 1947 Stafford Rangers (player-coach). In April 1939, when Rovers drew 2-2 with Walsall at Fellows Park, Arthur Buttery was in the Saddlers’ side. The same month he scored two of the five goals the Saddlers put past Bristol City in a League encounter. A goalscoring inside-forward, he played for Rovers in three games, scoring once, in the aborted 1939-40 wartime season, his first appearance being the 2-2 draw at home to Reading in August 1939. Previously a goalkeeper with the Church side St Peter’s, Buttery was converted to inside-forward when he and his brother Harold arrived at Hednesford Town, where his seven goals in eighteen games had drawn Rovers’ attention before he left for Molineux. When his father, George William Buttery (1879-1954), the husband of Lydia Agnes Stokes (1881-1970), found his transfer fee to Wolves in his pocket, Arthur was whipped with a belt and sent to bed, his father assuming his son had been stealing. He scored on his Wolves début, the opener in a 6-0 victory over Chesterfield in September 1931, and he won a Central League championship medal with Wolves’ reserves prior to scoring a hat-trick in Bury’s 5-1 win against Millwall in the spring of 1933 and sporadically captaining the Shakers. He later scored in two of the early rounds, but missed the final, as Bradford City reached the 1937-38 Third Division (North) Cup Final, only to lost to Southport. After wartime service with Wolves, Buttery recommended Kidderminster Harriers’ Gerry Hitchens to Bury, but the Gigg Lane side was tardy in responding and instead the inside-forward joined Aston Villa and went on to play for England. Arthur Buttery married in 1932 Norah Catherine Hallighan (1905-82) and they had two children, Martin and Frances. |
Alfred Feebrey. 1939-40.
Born, 10.9.1909, Hucknall Torkard, Nottinghamshire. Died, 1989, Nottinghamshire. Career: Hucknall Congregationalists; Newark Town; 1929 Notts County [221,1]; 1939 Bristol Rovers. Left-back Alf Feebery played in three games in the aborted 1939-40 wartime season, making his first appearance in the 2-2 home draw with Reading in August 1939. He was certainly well-known to Rovers’ supporters, having played in seven League fixtures for County against Rovers between February 1931 and October 1938 during his extensive career at Meadow Lane. His solitary goal for County was a penalty in the 4-1 victory at home to Fulham in Division Two in September 1933. Feebery was one of nine children, and one of six brothers, four of whom made the grade into League football, Jack playing for Bolton, Exeter and Brighton, Horace for Bolton and Mansfield, and Bert captaining the third-tier Crystal Palace side which created a huge FA Cup shock in defeating top-flight Everton 6-0 at Goodison Park in January 1922. A son of William Feebery (1860-1928) and Jane Leah Knight (1865-1941), Alf Feebery married Florence Mills in 1930 and had a son, Terry (1931-33), and two daughters, Maisie and Patricia. Another son apparently died aged just six and was buried in full Notts County kit. |
Alan Fredrick Fletcher. 1939-40.
Born, 28.10.1917, Pendleton. Died, 1984, Leigh. Career: January 1937 Blackpool; June 1937 Port Vale; June 1938 Bournemouth [12,0]; June 1939 Bristol Rovers; September 1947 Crewe Alexandra [1,0]; December 1947 Mossley; July 1949 Sligo Rovers (player-coach); August 1950 Mossley (player-manager) (to May 1951). Making his first appearance in the 2-2 home draw with Reading in August 1939, Alan Fletcher played in three games, scoring once, during the aborted 1939-40 wartime season. Earlier in his career, his League bow had come in Bournemouth’s 4-2 defeat at Swindon Town in December 1938. Later, a solitary appearance for Crewe came in a 3-2 victory over Bradford City at Gresty Road in October 1947. He scored seven goals in 133 Cheshire League games in his two spells with Mossley, either side of a managerial post in Ireland, and was in charge of Mossley for 48 games, including when they unexpectedly lost the Manchester Challenge Shield Final of 1951 2-1 against Lancashire Steel. Alan Fletcher was the younger son of William Fletcher and Elizabeth Williams. |
William Forster. 1939-40.
Born, 28.5.1909, Walker. Died, 1975, Newcastle. Career: Howdon British Legion; 1935 Newcastle United [3,0]; 1938 Southend United [6,0]; 1939 Bristol Rovers. Having first appeared in the 2-2 home draw with Reading in August 1939, full-back Bill Forster played in all three of Rovers’ fixtures during the aborted 1939-40 campaign. He had played right-back in the Southend United side which defeated Rovers 3-2 in Essex in a Third Division (South) fixture in January 1939; half of his appearances for the Shrimpers were at right-back and half at left-back. |