Wilf Mayer

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Wilf Mayer
Personal information
Full name Wilfred Mayer
Date of birth (1912-02-18)18 February 1912
Place of birth Stoke-on-Trent, England
Date of death April 1979 (1979-05) (aged 67)
Place of death Stoke-on-Trent, England
Height 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m)
Position(s) Inside-right
Youth career
Newcastle PSA
Downings Tileries
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1932–1937 Stoke City 1 (0)
1937–1938 Southampton 14 (0)
1938–???? Wellington Town
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Wilf Mayer (18 February 1912 – April 1979) was an English professional footballer who played at inside-right for Southampton in the late 1930s, before joining Wellington Town where he won a Welsh Cup winner's medal in 1940.

Football career[edit]

Mayer was born in Stoke-on-Trent, and after playing for local works teams, Newcastle PSA and Downings Tileries, he signed as a professional with Stoke City in August 1932. Mayer spent most of his career at Stoke in the reserves, making only one first-team appearance in the 1934–35 season which came in a 1–0 defeat at home to Chelsea on 9 March 1935.[1]

In March 1937, he was one of the first signings by Southampton's new manager Tom Parker for a fee of £650.[2] A nippy forward, at home both on the wing or at inside-forward, Mayer was immediately drafted into the first-team to replace the injured Dick Neal. Although Neal returned after a few matches, Mayer retained the inside-right shirt for the remainder of the season.[3]

In the following season, the signing of players such as Ray Parkin and Ted Bates restricted Mayer's appearances to five matches.[4] Mayer was placed on the transfer list at a fee of £500, but the club were unable to attract any offers from Football League teams even when the fee was later halved.[2]

Eventually, Mayer joined Wellington Town of the Cheshire County League, remaining with them long enough to win a Welsh Cup winner's medal in 1940 when they defeated Swansea Town 4–1.[2]

Career statistics[edit]

Source:[5]

Club Season League FA Cup Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Stoke City 1934–35 First Division 1 0 0 0 1 0
Southampton 1936–37 Second Division 9 0 0 0 9 0
1937–38 Second Division 5 0 0 0 5 0
Career total 15 0 0 0 15 0

Honours[edit]

Wellington Town

References[edit]

  1. ^ Matthews, Tony (1994). The Encyclopaedia of Stoke City. Lion Press. ISBN 0-9524151-0-0.
  2. ^ a b c Holley, Duncan; Chalk, Gary (1992). The Alphabet of the Saints. ACL & Polar Publishing. p. 235. ISBN 0-9514862-3-3.
  3. ^ Chalk, Gary; Holley, Duncan (1987). Saints – A complete record. Breedon Books. pp. 96–97. ISBN 0-907969-22-4.
  4. ^ Saints – A complete record. pp. 98–99.
  5. ^ Wilf Mayer at the English National Football Archive (subscription required)