William McGregor (13^th April 1846 to 20^th December 1911)

In the 1970’s on Saturday afternoons I felt grown up writing down all the football scores for my dad if he was out. He needed the scores from all four divisions as he doggedly did the Football Pools every week for years. He also did Spot-The-Ball too but I can’t recall any significant wins. It didn’t occur to me that someone invented the football league but someone did back in the Victorian days. It was William McGregor and was also the chairman of Aston Villa football club. Here I am stood by his grave following a thirty minute search through the long churchyard behind St. Mary’s in Handsworth in Birmingham.

Not much is known of his early life. After moving from Perthshire to Birmingham he set up a draper’s shop. Nuts about football he became involved with local football club Aston Villa. He served the club for over 20 years in various capacities including president, director and chairman. The football league came about from his vexation: Villa matches were often cancelled so he organised a meeting with England's leading clubs. This spawned the creation of the Football League that gave clubs a guaranteed fixture list. This lifted football from an amateur pastime to a professional business.

William was married to Jessie and they had a son and a daughter. He kept his drapers shop for all his working life, closing it to attend football matches and opening it later to sell football kits. He was a committed Christian and worshipped for forty years at the Congregational church in Aston. He didn’t drink alcohol and supported the Temperance movement.

In May 1910 he was taken ill and later confined to a nursing home. A year later his condition worsened and he died age 65 in December 1911. He’s still remembered as the "father of The Football League" and I was glad to read the Aston Villa Supporter’s Trust had raised £1,000 to clean his headstone. There’s even a bronze statue outside Villa’s stadium (on the Trinity Road Stand if you want to see it.)

Looking at the pigeons in the sun…

There’s even a statue of him…

Here he is…

He founded Aston Villa Football Club. Impressive club…

The headstone has been cleaned up…