Wilfred Bratton

Wilfred Bratton

Personal information
Full name	Wilfred Bratton
Date of birth	(1896-12-19)19 December 1896
Place of birth	Sheffield, England
Position(s)	Forward
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1921–1928	Mapleton
International career
1922	Australia	1	(1)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Wilfred Bratton was an English-born Australian soccer player who also played as a forward for the inaugural Australia national soccer team in 1922.[1]

Early life

Wilfred Bratton was born in Sheffield, England.[2][3][4] At the age of 15, Bratton migrated to Australia and settled at Flaxton or Palmwoods where he was employed as a farmhand. He enlisted for World War 1 in May 1915 as a Private and was wounded in service, a victim of gassing and severe trench fever. He returned to Australia in March 1919.[5]

In October 1921 Bratton married Ellen Elizabeth Champion at St Andrew's Church of England, South Brisbane.[6]

In 1928 Bratton wrote to the newspapers about a game of football played between his 3rd Australian Division and the Royal Air Force at Ballieul (Somme on the Western Front) in the winter of 1917.[7]

Club career

Bratton played for Palmwoods in August 1920 in their friendly games against Buderim before the formation of the North Coast Football Association (NCFA) in 1921.[8] In the first season of the NCFA in 1921 Bratton played for Mapleton.[9] Bratton continued to play for Mapleton until 1928 and was even club president.[10][11]

International career

Bratton played for the Australia national soccer team and was capped only once, as a replacement for Dave Ward[12] with a goal on 24 June 1922 against New Zealand.[13][14]

Bratton is designated Socceroo cap number 12.[15]

Career statistics

International

National team	Year	Competitive		Friendly		Total
		Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Australia	1922	0	0	1	1	1	1

Scores and results list Australia's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Australia goal.

List of international goals scored by Wilfred Bratton

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition	Ref.
1	24 June 1922	Athletic Park, Wellington, New Zealand	New Zealand	1–1	1–1	Friendly	[16]

References

1. Werner, Greg (20 January 2018). "Wilf Bratton". Grassroots Football Project.
2. "19 Jun 1925 – Soccer. – Trove". Trove.nla.gov.au. 19 June 1925. Retrieved 23 March 2019.
3. "Australian Imperial Force - Nominal Roll" (JPG).
4. "RecordSearch - National Archives of Australia".
5. "Wilfred Bratten". www.awm.gov.au.
6. "Family Notices". Brisbane Courier. 15 November 1921.
7. "13 Aug 1928 – A FOOTBALL INCIDENT. – Trove". Brisbane Courier. Trove.nla.gov.au. 13 August 1928. Retrieved 23 March 2019.
8. "27 Aug 1920 – SOCCER FOOTBALL. – Trove". Chronicle and North Coast Advertiser. Trove.nla.gov.au. 27 August 1920. Retrieved 23 March 2019.
9. "03 Aug 1921 – SOCCER NOTES. – Trove". Daily Mail. Trove.nla.gov.au. 3 August 1921. Retrieved 23 March 2019.
10. "16 Mar 1923 – Soccer. – Trove". Nambour Chronicle and North Coast Advertiser. Trove.nla.gov.au. 16 March 1923. Retrieved 23 March 2019.
11. "07 Sep 1928 – Soccer. – Trove". Nambour Chronicle and North Coast Advertiser. Trove.nla.gov.au. 7 September 1928. Retrieved 23 March 2019.
12. "SOCCER TEST". Evening News. No. 17165. New South Wales, Australia. 23 June 1922. p. 3. Retrieved 17 November 2020 – via National Library of Australia.
13. Esamie, Thomas. "Socceroo Internationals for 1922". ozfootball.net.
14. "Australian Soccer History". ak-tsc.de.
15. "List of every Socceroo in order of first appearance".
16. "LATE SPORTING". The Telegraph. No. 15468. Queensland, Australia. 26 June 1922. p. 7. Retrieved 21 December 2022 – via National Library of Australia.