William
Foulke (12th April 1874 to 1st
May 1916)
Nowadays the
media has a feeding frenzy when they find a sports personality they can make
capital of - interviews, sounds bites, documentaries, photo shoots, after
dinner speaking, books, etc. In the early 1900s William Henry "Fatty"
Foulke would have been the bullseye for the media. He
was a professional cricketer and goalkeeper, 6 feet 4 inches tall and sometimes
weighing 24 stones.
It hardly
seems believable now that someone carrying almost the equivalent weight of two
modern footballers could even participate at professional level, let alone make
rapid upward progress to appear eventually as an England international player.
This fatso did. The cliche "Who ate all the
pies?" chant was first sung in 1894 by Sheffield United supporters at
William due to his size.
Here I am at
his grave overlooking Sheffield city. I found Burngreave
Cemetery - in the rough part of the city - was so vast there was a road cutting
through its middle. “Might be here for an hour”, I thought to myself but I got
lucky. There was a patch of white sky in the dark grainy photo of William’s
grave as though it lay on the top of hill. I dumped the car in a deep bowl of
graves and walked up a hill to get more a percentage of sky. The height
afforded a panoramic view of Sheffield and, after ten minutes of tramping
around, I matched up the outline of trees to one in the photo. This was it; the
fat sports star was buried here.
Though William
played four matches for Derbyshire County Cricket Club in the 1900 season he
was mainly remembered as a goalkeeper for Sheffield United. He was always a big boy. Before reaching
twenty he was 6’ 2” and weighed 15 stone but he loved football. He was
discovered by scouts playing in goal for a village side, Blackwell Pit, in a
Derbyshire Cup tie at Ilkeston. He was signed to Sheffield United and made his
debut aged 20 against West Bromwich Albion on 1st September 1894. At
the time the average wage for a working man was £1/week but William was earning
£2.50/week.
Though he
would go on to help Sheffield Units reach three F.A. Cup finals (two won) and a
League championship he was well-known for being a character than an effective
goalie. The fatter he got the more the crowds loved him. When Sheffield lost a
final against Tottenham Hotspur over 114,000 attended the game, many due to
this fatty who weighed twice as much as anyone else on the pitch. Despite his
agility this splash of colour had developed an adoring fan base. Once he
emerged from the changing room naked to pursue the referee for a poor decision
he’d made. He sat on players who had said something to offend him until they
apologised or held people upside down by their feet, dunking them in mud. He
often saved penalties and would then charge up field to score, the opposing
team caught unaware. He could punch the ball as far as some players could kick
it.
Many fans
attended matches just to see this mammoth lad despite him being stuck in nets
and not a blur-on-legs goal-scorer. He didn’t care about his size, he was a
goal-keeper. He liked to arrive at the club early for breakfast and would often
scoff six meals leaving some players with empty stomachs. Whilst playing
against Accrington Stanley his jersey clashed with the red of Stanley and he
played wrapped up in a sheet someone procured from a nearby house.
He had a
temper though and would often throw man bodily into the back of the nets. Once
he had to be stopped by a group of F.A. officials from wrenching the cupboard
door off its hinges to reach the hapless referee who had made a bad decision.
The authorities didn’t like him. He was often in trouble for pulling down on
the crossbar to give a high shot a marginally smaller target. He was also an
expert at time-wasting if his club was trying to hold onto a narrow lead. The
fans loved him, though. They called him "Fatty" or
"Colossus" but he said he didn’t care, so long as he wasn’t called
late for dinner.
Away from the
football pitch he was married to Beatrice and when he was 29 they bought a
general store that was a great success. Footballers in the top leagues weren’t
millionaires in those days and they had to work.
Though he lies
here in his beloved city he left Sheffield United after keeping net for 350
matches and moved to Chelsea in 1905 for a massive transfer fee of £50. He only
played 35 games for them before moving to Bradford City. By this time he was
passed his peak. A newspaper poked fun at him, reporting that on 29th September
1906 a horse had a narrow escape when it nearly collided with William when he
was crossing a road. He now weighed over 25 stone and was no longer as agile
and retired from first-class football in November 1907 aged 33. He took over a
larger shop and also ran The Duke public house in Sheffield. He lost the job
when he was found guilty of being involved in illegal betting.
He died at
just 42 years old in 1916, the death certificate stating "cirrhosis"
(presumably of the liver.) Stories abounded that he was forced by poverty to
spend days and weeks outdoors in a "beat the goalie" sideshow
attraction in Blackpool and caught pneumonia. He still remains in the record
books as the heaviest first-class footballer to play anywhere in the world.
Back near the
car there was a man in a wheelchair taking a viscous-looking Alsation for a walk. I’m sure it could have easily pulled
him over. I got chatting to a retired vicar who was sitting on a bench. He was
thin and the width of his legs was pretty much the same all the way up. He was
from the south coast and when I asked what brought him up North “work or women”
he said, “No, it was a He – God.”
Impressive shorts…
Asking someone if they have seen
this grave…
Not sure he’ll want to be found. He
looks a bit crabby…
Here he is…
In the nets as usual…
From the top of the hill he’s got a
cracking view of Sheffield city…
If you see a war memorial you just
have to salute…
