Bill Purves

William Purves

Personal information
Full name	William Michael Purves
Date of birth	1870
Place of birth	Belfast, Ireland
Position(s)	Right back
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
18??–1893	Glentoran
1893–1897	Birmingham[a]	40	(0)
1897–1???	Glentoran
International career
1894–1898	Irish League	3	(0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

William Michael Purves (1870 – after 1900) was an Irish professional footballer who played as a right back. He made 40 appearances in the Football League, playing for Small Heath in the 1890s.[1] He played three times for the Irish League representative team.[2][3]

Purves was born in Belfast and played for Glentoran before coming to England to join Small Heath[4] in March 1894. He played in the last three matches of the 1893–94 Football League regular season and in the test match that confirmed their ascent to the First Division.[1][5] He played every game of the club's first top-flight season, but lost his place to Frank Lester in 1895–96[6] and returned to Glentoran. From 1900 he acted as Glentoran's trainer.[4]

Notes

1. The Matthews source misattributes to Purves a League appearance made by Bernard Pumfrey on 30 December 1893, some time before Purves joined Small Heath.

References

1. "Purves, W (William)". English National Football Archive. Retrieved 16 March 2020.
2. Joyce, Michael (2004). Football League Players' Records 1888 to 1939. Nottingham: SoccerData. p. 214. ISBN 978-1-899468-67-6.
3. jcd. "Irish League representative match line-ups". Northern Ireland's Footballing Greats (NIFG). Retrieved 13 January 2025.
4. Matthews, Tony (1995). Birmingham City: A Complete Record. Derby: Breedon Books. p. 118. ISBN 978-1-85983-010-9.
5. "Small Heath". Football Club History Database. Richard Rundle. Retrieved 11 February 2009.
6. Matthews, pp. 142–143.