Wilfred Bartrop

English footballer

Wilf Bartrop

Personal information
Full name|  Wilfred Bartrop
Date of birth|  (1887-11-22)22 November 1887
Place of birth|  Worksop, England
Date of death|  7 November 1918(1918-11-07) (aged 30)
Place of death|  Escaut, Belgium
Position(s)|  Outside forward
Senior career*
Years|  Team|  Apps|  (Gls)
1908–1909|  Worksop|  ?|  (?)
1909–1914|  Barnsley|  160|  (15)
1914–1915|  Liverpool|  3|  (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Wilf Bartrop (22 November 1887 – 7 November 1918) was a professional footballer, who played as a forward for several English sides prior to the First World War. He was killed in action, days before the end of the war.

## Club career

[edit]

He started his career at home side Worksop before transferring to Barnsley on 21 June 1909.[1] He played in both FA Cup finals that Barnsley reached in 1910 and 1912.[2][3] In the 1910 FA Cup, Bartrop scored a 'wonder goal' in a 1–0 quarter-final win over Queen's Park Rangers. In the final, Barnsley lost the replay 2–0 to Newcastle, after a 1–1 draw in the first tie. The 1912 cup final went again to a replay but Barnsley won, defeating West Bromwich Albion 1–0 in extra time, after a 0–0 draw in the first encounter.[4] Many newspapers, including the Manchester Guardian, praised his play in the replay.[5]

At the end of the 1913–14 season he transferred to Liverpool where he played a total of 3 games before his career was interrupted by the First World War.[1]

A biography of Wilfred Bartrop, entitled 'Swifter than the Arrow', was published in December 2008.[6]

## Honours

[edit]

Barnsley

* FA Cup: Winners 1912[4]

His FA Cup winners medal was sold in 2008 for £14400 – more than twice its estimate price.[7] [8]

## Military service

[edit]

He joined the Royal Field Artillery as a Gunner in a Trench Mortar Battery.[4] He was serving in Belgium when his unit came under heavy artillery fire at the river Escaut on 7 November 1918. Bartrop was severely wounded in the legs and chest by an airburst and died of wounds seconds later. His death took place 4 days before the armistice.[9]

The opening display in an exhibition on Football and the Great War at the National Football Museum, Manchester, UK (2014 to 2015) focused on Wilfred Bartrop.[10] The display included photographs, archive film footage and memorabilia including Bartrop's FA Cup winner's medal.

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b "Wilf Bartrop Player Profile". LFC History.net. Retrieved 7 March 2008.
2. ^ "fa-cupfinals.co.uk". fa-cupfinals.co.uk. Retrieved 26 February 2008.
3. ^ "fa-cupfinals.co.uk". fa-cupfinals.co.uk. Retrieved 26 February 2008.
4. ^ a b c "Wilfred Bartrop – Barnsley, Liverpool and the War". Football and the First World War. Retrieved 25 November 2017.
5. ^ "Barnsley's Victory". Manchester Guardian. 25 April 1912. p. 4.
6. ^ "Swifter than the Arrow: Wilfred Bartrop, football and war". Retrieved 18 September 2008.
7. ^ "Sale 15968, Sporting Memorabilia, 27 Feb 2008 CHESTER". Bonhams. Retrieved 3 June 2008.
8. ^ "Reds' FA Cup winner's medal expected to fetch £6,000". Johnston Press Digital Publishing. Retrieved 3 June 2008.
9. ^ "Casualty Details: Bartrop, Wilfred". Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Retrieved 1 May 2020.
10. ^ "The Greater Game: Football & The First World War". National Football Museum. Retrieved 8 March 2015.

Authority control databases

International|

* ISNI
* VIAF
* WorldCat

National|

* United States

People|

* Commonwealth War Graves Commission

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