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Bert Freeman
Bertram Clewley Freeman (1 October 1885 – 11 August 1955) was an English footballer. He played as a centre forward for clubs Woolwich Arsenal, Everton, Burnley and Wigan Borough. Freeman was one of the most prolific goal-scorers of his time, winning one First Division and two Second Division Golden Boots. He was also capped at the senior level for England.
Freeman was born in Handsworth, which was then in Staffordshire, and attended Gower Street School in Aston, where he started to make a name for himself as a prolific goal-scorer. He ended his schooldays with two games in which he scored seven and nine times respectively.
After moving to Gower Street Old Boys at the age of 16, he then moved on to Aston Manor where he was spotted by Aston Villa, for whom he signed professionally in April 1904. At 5 ft 8 in he was not the biggest of forwards and he failed to make an impact at Villa Park. As so he transferred to Woolwich Arsenal in November 1905.
Freeman scored on his Arsenal debut on 25 November 1905 away to Nottingham Forest, scoring Arsenal's only goal in a 3–1 defeat. He also scored a brace in an FA Cup win against Manchester United that saw the club to the semi-final which they lost by 2–0 to Newcastle United. As so in his first season he scored twelve goals in 21 games for the Gunners.
Arsenal finished in seventh place in the 1906–07 season, with Freeman scoring eight goals in twelve league games. Although Arsenal again reached the FA Cup semi-finals, Freeman made no appearances in cup matches that season. By this time, he had competition for the centre forward's role with Peter Kyle, restricting his appearances; the situation continued the following season, with Freeman making a further 15 league appearances with four goals.
With Freeman unable to hold a regular place down, new manager George Morrell, in an effort to alleviate the club's debts, allowed him to join Everton in April 1908. In Freeman's biography in Arsenal Who's Who, it is argued that this was "one of the great transfer blunders of those early years". In his three seasons at Arsenal, Freeman scored a total of 24 goals in 49 appearances in league and cup matches.
An Everton director had been sent to watch Freeman play for Arsenal in 1907, and on his return was asked by the board: "Did he score any goals?" The unnamed director apparently reported back: "He scored all four of them, but he did nothing else!" Ernest Edwards, the Liverpool Echo journalist, who had christened Anfield's home end The Spion Kop, convinced the Blues that Freeman was worth taking a chance on and the 22-year-old signed for a fee of £350 in time to make his debut at the end of the 1907–08 season.
He made his debut in a goalless draw away to Liverpool on 17 April 1908 and played in the remaining four games of the season, scoring once. He soon formed a useful partnership with his former Arsenal teammate Tim Coleman, who had joined Everton a few weeks earlier. During his first full season with Everton he scored 38 goals from 37 appearances, which made him the First Division's top scorer. With Coleman contributing a further 20 goals, Everton finished in the runners-up position, seven points behind the champions, Newcastle United. In the Autumn of 1908, between 10 October and 12 December, Freeman had a run of 10 successive goal-scoring appearances – during which he struck 17 times. These included hat-tricks against Sheffield United and Sunderland. Freeman's total of 38 league goals broke the record for the most Football League goals in a season previously held by Liverpool's Sam Raybould (31 in 1902–03) and stood until broken by Ted Harper's 43 goals in 1925–26.
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Bert Freeman
Bertram Clewley Freeman (1 October 1885 – 11 August 1955) was an English footballer. He played as a centre forward for clubs Woolwich Arsenal, Everton, Burnley and Wigan Borough. Freeman was one of the most prolific goal-scorers of his time, winning one First Division and two Second Division Golden Boots. He was also capped at the senior level for England.
Freeman was born in Handsworth, which was then in Staffordshire, and attended Gower Street School in Aston, where he started to make a name for himself as a prolific goal-scorer. He ended his schooldays with two games in which he scored seven and nine times respectively.
After moving to Gower Street Old Boys at the age of 16, he then moved on to Aston Manor where he was spotted by Aston Villa, for whom he signed professionally in April 1904. At 5 ft 8 in he was not the biggest of forwards and he failed to make an impact at Villa Park. As so he transferred to Woolwich Arsenal in November 1905.
Freeman scored on his Arsenal debut on 25 November 1905 away to Nottingham Forest, scoring Arsenal's only goal in a 3–1 defeat. He also scored a brace in an FA Cup win against Manchester United that saw the club to the semi-final which they lost by 2–0 to Newcastle United. As so in his first season he scored twelve goals in 21 games for the Gunners.
Arsenal finished in seventh place in the 1906–07 season, with Freeman scoring eight goals in twelve league games. Although Arsenal again reached the FA Cup semi-finals, Freeman made no appearances in cup matches that season. By this time, he had competition for the centre forward's role with Peter Kyle, restricting his appearances; the situation continued the following season, with Freeman making a further 15 league appearances with four goals.
With Freeman unable to hold a regular place down, new manager George Morrell, in an effort to alleviate the club's debts, allowed him to join Everton in April 1908. In Freeman's biography in Arsenal Who's Who, it is argued that this was "one of the great transfer blunders of those early years". In his three seasons at Arsenal, Freeman scored a total of 24 goals in 49 appearances in league and cup matches.
An Everton director had been sent to watch Freeman play for Arsenal in 1907, and on his return was asked by the board: "Did he score any goals?" The unnamed director apparently reported back: "He scored all four of them, but he did nothing else!" Ernest Edwards, the Liverpool Echo journalist, who had christened Anfield's home end The Spion Kop, convinced the Blues that Freeman was worth taking a chance on and the 22-year-old signed for a fee of £350 in time to make his debut at the end of the 1907–08 season.
He made his debut in a goalless draw away to Liverpool on 17 April 1908 and played in the remaining four games of the season, scoring once. He soon formed a useful partnership with his former Arsenal teammate Tim Coleman, who had joined Everton a few weeks earlier. During his first full season with Everton he scored 38 goals from 37 appearances, which made him the First Division's top scorer. With Coleman contributing a further 20 goals, Everton finished in the runners-up position, seven points behind the champions, Newcastle United. In the Autumn of 1908, between 10 October and 12 December, Freeman had a run of 10 successive goal-scoring appearances – during which he struck 17 times. These included hat-tricks against Sheffield United and Sunderland. Freeman's total of 38 league goals broke the record for the most Football League goals in a season previously held by Liverpool's Sam Raybould (31 in 1902–03) and stood until broken by Ted Harper's 43 goals in 1925–26.