NEWS, NOTES & MILESTONES

1889 - Legendary goalkeeper Joe Reader makes his Albion debut against Aston Villa. He would go on to make over 350 appearances during a 16 year stay with the club and was capped once by England.

BIRTHS

1963 - Craig Shakespeare

Birmingham-born Craig Shakespeare started his playing career with Walsall, signing as an apprentice in 1979 before signing as a professional in 1981. He spent eight years with the Saddlers, making over 350 appearances and becoming an integral part of their midfield during what was one of the club’s best ever periods. He left Walsall in the summer of 1989 to join Sheffield Wednesday but his time at Hillsborough wasn’t a success, returning to the Midlands by joining Albion just eight months later. He spent three years with the Baggies but failed to reproduce the form he had shown whilst with Walsall.

After leaving The Hawthorns he spent four decent seasons with Grimsby Town and had a brief spell at Scunthorpe United before he dropped down into non-league football. In 1999 he rejoined Albion as Football in the Community Officer. He would go on to coach in the club’s academy and then in 2006 he took over as Albion’s Reserve Team Coach. ‘Shakey’ left Albion in June 2008 to become Nigel Pearson's assistant at Leicester City, Shakespeare would then follow Pearson, first to Hull City in 2010, and then back to Leicester City when Pearson was reappointed manager there in November 2011.

1958 - Winston White

Winger Winston White started his career in his home City with Leicester, spending three years at Filbert Street before joining Hereford United. It was at Hereford he made a name for himself, making over 200 appearances in a four year stay with the club. A number of short spells with various clubs followed before he once again settled down, this time with Bury. After four years at Gigg Lane he moved onto Rochdale, Colchester United and then Burnley before making a move to The Hawthorns in March 1991. White struggled to impress during his 18 month stay with the Baggies, leaving to re-join Bury in October 1992.

1911 - Harry Jones

Lancashire-born striker Harry ‘Popeye’ Jones joined Albion from his first professional club Preston North End in 1933. He averaged better than a goal every two games during his ten year stay at The Hawthorns, and was particularly prolific during the early years of Wartime Football, hitting 49 goals in just 43 starts. He set an impressive goalscoring record for the Baggies during the 1939/40 season, managing to score in eleven successive games, a feat later equalled by Billy Elliott but to this day never bettered. He retired through injury and illness in 1943, and spent a few years scouting for the club. He died in 1957 of a heart attack at the age of just 45.

1877 - Harry Hadley

Born in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, but raised in Halesowen, Harry Hadley joined Albion from local football in February 1897. He spent eight successful years with the Baggies, winning one England cap in the process, before joining Aston Villa. The left-back’s spell at Villa Park was short, as were subsequent spells at Nottingham Forest and Southampton. He dropped out of League Football in 1908 and was publican at the Woodman Inn in Halesowen for a few years before he moved into football club management, having spells in charge of Merthyr Town, Aberdare Athletic, Gillingham and Bangor City. He returned to the Midlands after leaving football and died in West Bromwich in 1942 at the age of 64.

DEATHS

None known.

DEBUTS

1974 - David Rushbury v Millwall, The Den, Second Division.

1946 - George Drury v Bradford Park Avenue, The Hawthorns, Second Division.

1940 - Frank Hodgetts v Notts County, The Hawthorns, Football League South.

1889 - Joe Reader v Aston Villa, Wellington Road, Football League.
 

FAREWELLS

2002 - Lee Marshall v Chelsea, Stamford Bridge, Premier League.

1963 - Charles 'Chuck' Drury v Stoke City, The Hawthorns, First Division.

1907 - Adam Haywood v Glossop, North Road, Second Division.

1901 - George Williams v Blackpool, Bloomfield Road, Second Division.

TRANSFERS

None known.

RESULTS