Thank you so much, I'm 99% sure that Jack Walter Williams isn't our James William Williams, however, here's a little more to explain why I was looking.
When JWW married the great grandmother (1907) he referenced his profession as miner. In the 1911 census, completed by his grandfather (his mother's father) his profession was listed as "coal miner, when at work" < which first of all had us thinking that perhaps he was a footballer and that the family didn't think this was a "real job". But on reading the 1914 reports, when he was sentenced to 2 months for abandoning the great grandmother he was described as a "loiterer", I wonder if it was football or just talk.
I have JWW from his birth cert as born on 15 Dec 1883 in Washington, Co. Durham - his WWI register of effects and pension details support this, with the grandmother referenced on it. He served in the 22nd DLI battalion, the Pioneers (they dug comms trenches, laid railway lines) and then in March 1918 had to fight as infantrymen. JWW died on 25th March 1918 and is commemorated on the Poziere memorial.
There was no mention of a footballing ancestor until we started looking at the history, and my father in law dug out his parent's marriage certificate and noticed that when his mother, Mary Ethel Williams, referenced her father as James William Williams "Professional Footballer" (deceased.)
I think it might be a bit beyond him to have created a pseudonym - but will try looking at Jack Walter and see if it isn't beyond the realms of possibility.
