Professional Footballer at Sunderland AFC

[loobylooayr]

Hi all,

I wonder if anyone has any knowledge about the early days of Sunderland AFC?

My great-great uncle signed for the club back in 1891 and played at Roker Park for several years. I've been doing some research on him and wonder if a professional footballer in the 1890s would be, like today, totally professional (i.e. football and training being his sole occupation) or whether these young men would have ordinary everyday jobs over and above.
My ancestor Hugh Wilson, is recorded as a boarder on the 1891 Census at Zetland Street, Sunderland. According to Familysearch transcription he is a Lace Weaver Proprietor Football Player - although I think Proprietor has probably been mistranscribed and should be Professional. Hugh was indeed a Lace Weaver back home in Scotland and cannot have been very long in Sunderland when the Census was taken.

Thanks for reading,

Looby

[Gadget]

Hi Looby

I'm not familiar with the Sunderland club that far back, although I did have a season ticket for 2 or 3 seasons about 10 years or so ago.

I can only tell you about my football relatives and their friends during that era. Nearly all my father's brothers and his father played football - at an amateur level. My father played half professional in the early 1920s and then became a full professional until about 1928 when he had an injury. He said he was paid £8 a week then.

There's quite a lot of info online about the early days of the Football League. It would also be worth Googling 'Billy Meredith', who not only was a brilliant player, but was also instrumental in starting a players union.

Duck/Simon would be able to tell you a lot more than me. It would be worth you sending him a PM.

Gadget

Add - Simon's link:

https://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?action=profile;u=50210

[iluleah]

I was researching someone around the same era and found at the time, most players were only part-time professionals and still had other jobs, some FC owners found them other jobs locally to where they played and some worked as groundsmen etc for the club . As professionals they could have recieved £1-£10 for playing. When the average working wage was possibly £1

Lots changed in the 1890s as top players joined together to form a trade union, the AFU

When you read what these men achieved at that time for their teams , they would have been multi million, famous players now days

[Gadget]

Here he is

[Brentor boy]

According to the list of former Sunderland players on Wikipedia, Hughie Wilson was a  midfielder who made 258 appearnces for the club between 1890-1899.

[loobylooayr]

Here he is

Thank you Gadget. You have given me a lot to go on in your first reply. I will certainly message Simon later this evening after dinner.
Thanks too for sharing the Census clip. I think that must be an abbreviation for Professional...because Hugh certainly wasn't a Proprietor of a lace weaving business!

Regards
Looby

[loobylooayr]

I was researching someone around the same era and found at the time, most players were only part-time professionals and still had other jobs, some FC owners found them other jobs locally to where they played and some worked as groundsmen etc for the club . As professionals they could have recieved £1-£10 for playing. When the average working wage was possibly £1

Lots changed in the 1890s as top players joined together to form a trade union, the AFU

When you read what these men achieved at that time for their teams , they would have been multi million, famous players now days

Thank you Iluleah .
Your reply supports what I have sort of suspected - that in the early days professional footballers would probably have another job organised by the football club management.
I have a note of Hugh's starting wage on my laptop ( I'm on my mobile right now) and know it was more than he was earning at the lace mill where he's worked in Ayrshire , but hardly in the top-earning bracket .

You are so right , these men were trailblazers !

Regards,
Looby 

[loobylooayr]

According to the list of former Sunderland players on Wikipedia, Hughie Wilson was a  midfielder who made 258 appearnces for the club between 1890-1899.

Thank you,  Bentor Boy.
Yes Hugh was a prolific player for Sunderland in the 1890s. He was in fact team captain for several seasons. I have done some research on his long career -
 - he played for Bedminster, Bristol, Third Lanark and Kilmarnock as well as collecting 4 Scotland caps before hanging up his football boots in 1908. 

I'm trying now to find out about his life in Sunderland, if possible.

Best,
Looby

[JenB]

If you haven’t already seen them, there are very many mentions of him in the newspapers online.