Billy Hibbert


William Hibbert was a professional footballer who played as centre forward and was capped once for England.

Club career

Born in Golborne, Lancashire, England, Hibbert started playing at school before beginning his amateur career first at Newton le Willows then Bryn Central. On 3 May 1906, he turned professional with First Division club Bury In 1911, he signed with Newcastle United for a then record fee. He played 139 league games scoring 46 goals either side of the First World War — during which time he guested for both Sheffield Wednesday and Leeds City. He also played four games as a guest for Burnley in the 1916–17 season. In 1920 he signed for Bradford City where he was the club's top goal-scorer in its final two seasons in Division One. When he left City after it was relegated, he had scored 26 goals in 53 games. He then signed for Oldham Athletic.
In 1923, he moved to the United States where he joined the Fall River Marksmen of the American Soccer League. He saw time in only four league games before moving to J&P Coats for the remainder of the season, continuing with Coats through the end of the 1925–26 season. He also spent time in June 1927 with Real Gimnástico CF.

National team

He also won one international cap for England against Scotland on 2 April 1910 in a 2–0 defeat.

Manager

After his playing career finished he was a coach in the United States of America, Spain and at Wigan Borough. He died in Blackpool, England, on 16 March 1949.

Personal life

His brother-in-law was Joe Shaw who played more than 300 games for Arsenal.