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Billy Meredith
| Category: | Male Player |
| Year Inducted: | 2007 |
Profile by Robert Galvin, the author of the Football Hall of Fame, the official book of the National Football Museum Hall of Fame:
A hero to the Edwardian working-class, Billy Meredith was the most famous footballer of his era and the pivotal figure in the emergence of Manchester as a stronghold of English football.
During a career noted for its remarkable longevity, the tricky, bandy-legged winger – trademark toothpick in his mouth – helped City and United in turn claim their first major honour, at the outset of the last century.
Here was football's first ‘star'. The Manchester Guardian stated: ‘Those 90 minutes of consummate ball control and trickery every Saturday afternoon, to the roars of an adoring multitude, were Meredith's one means of communion with his fellow men.'
Celebrated and often caricatured in popular cartoons, Meredith gained a popularity akin to that enjoyed by music-hall stars. Like them, he revelled in entertaining the public and often chatted to spectators when play shifted away from his wing.
Off the field, Meredith fought tirelessly against what he regarded as ‘the tyranny' of the maximum wage and the transfer system. A lifelong union man, Meredith chaired the first meeting of the players' Union, in December 1907.
Only Stanley Matthews outstrips him for longevity. At the age of 49, Meredith played for City in an FA Cup semi-final. Two decades earlier, he was the match-winner in the 1904 final, the highlight of his first spell with the club. Huge crowds lined the streets when the team returned to Manchester; the city had never seen anything like it before.
And Meredith was the hero. Idolised in Manchester, he was highly respected by rival supporters; that same season, they voted him the most popular footballer in the country in a poll conducted by a popular newspaper .
Not even scandal could seriously diminish his appeal to the masses on the terraces. Implicated in a match-fixing conspiracy, Meredith was cheered to the rafters on his return from a lengthy suspension. To his dying day, he strenuously denied any wrongdoing.
Following the match-fixing scandal, Manchester City were forced to sell their best players, including Meredith. And rivals Manchester United were quick to capitalise.
His return from suspension, in January 1907, drew huge crowds. ‘It was a scene of wonderful enthusiasm,' The Manchester Guardian reported , ‘an amazing tumult of waving arms and handkerchiefs.'
It would prove to be a turning point in the history of Manchester United. Two championship titles were won – either side of the club's move to Old Trafford - and the FA Cup.
In 1921, Meredith fell into dispute with management at Old Trafford, leading to his transfer to Manchester City, whose supporters revelled in the return of their former idol.
Now in his forties, Meredith was still an automatic choice for Wales, as he had been for two decades. In total, Meredith won a record 48 caps for his country, culminating in a famous victory over England in his last match in the red of Wales.
For all his militancy as a union activist and his pragmatic professionalism, the game provided Meredith with more than simply a livelihood. Following his retirement, he said: ‘Football was my only love, for it is a noble and manly game.'