Ralph Shields
 Shields on the day of his enlistment in the Royal Australian Army Service Corps during the Second World War. | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Ralph Shields[1] | ||
| Date of birth | 1892 | ||
| Place of birth | Newbiggin, England | ||
| Date of death | 21 November 1944 (aged 51–52)[2] | ||
| Place of death | Sandakan, Borneo[2] | ||
| Playing position | Forward | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Newbiggin Athletic | |||
| Choppington Alliance | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 1913–1914 | Newcastle United | 0 | (0) |
| 1914–1920 | Huddersfield Town | 45 | (21) |
| 1920–1921 | Exeter City | 19 | (4) |
| 1921–1922 | Brentford | 8 | (1) |
| 1922–1926 | Sittingbourne | ||
| 1926–1927 | Blyth Spartans | ||
|
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. | |||
Ralph Shields (1892 in Newbiggin, County Durham – 21 November 1944 in Sandakan, Borneo) was a professional football forward who played in the Football League for Huddersfield Town, Exeter City and Brentford.
Football career
As a young man, Ralph was a miner but he played for his local junior club Newbiggin Athletic, in the Wansbeck League. In 1913 he was playing for Choppington Alliance when he was spotted by Newcastle United and was transferred to them for a fee of £40 on 30 October 1913. Ralph never played for the first XI at Newcastle United, when in May 1914 Huddersfield Town paid a £100 fee for his signature. The following season, 1914–15, Ralph was Huddersfield Town leading goal scorer with 16 goals in 28 appearances.[3] As with many footballers during World War I, he signed up to serve and he did so with the Royal Field Artillery. The season after World War I, 1919–20, he was part of the Huddersfield Town side which gained promotion from Division 2 of the Football League appearing 13 times and scoring 3 goals.[4] In November 1920, Ralph was transferred to Exeter City and played in 19 matches, scoring 4 goals, for the rest of the 1920–21 season.[1] During August 1921, he was transferred to Brentford to play in the 1921–22 season, appearing in 8 matches and scoring just one goal.[1] This was to be his last season in the Football League. He then appeared for Sittingbourne in the Kent League for a few seasons before moving back to the North East to play for Blyth Spartans in the North Eastern League.[1]
Personal life
In October 1927, Ralph and his family emigrated to Australia to build a new life. During his service with the Australian Army Service Corps in Malaya, he was captured by the Imperial Japanese Army and transferred to the Sandakan Prisoner of War Camp in North Borneo and interred as a POW.[2] He died on 21 November 1944 and is buried at the Labuan War Cemetery in Malaysia.[5]
References
- 1 2 3 4 Joyce, Michael (2012). Football League Players' Records 1888 to 1939. Nottingham: Tony Brown. p. 263. ISBN 190589161X.
- 1 2 3 "NSW. Paybook photograph, taken on enlistment, of NX57251 Private Ralph Shields, No. 2 Company, Australian Army Service Corps. He was one of over 2000 Allied prisoners of war (POW) held in the ...". Australian War Memorial. Retrieved 2015-10-18.
- ↑ 1914–15 Huddersfield Town A.F.C. season
- ↑ 1919–20 Huddersfield Town A.F.C. season
- ↑ Reading Room Manchester. "CWGC - Casualty Details". cwgc.org. Retrieved 24 October 2015.
- 99 Years & Counting - Stats & Stories - Huddersfield Town History