Bob Suart

Bob Suart
Personal information
Full name	Robert Suart
Date of birth	1882
Place of birth	Stockport, England
Date of death	27 September 1918 (aged 36)
Place of death	near Gouzeaucourt, France
Position(s)	Wing half
Senior career*
Years	Team
1902–1903	Edgeley
1903–1908	Stockport County
1908–1911	Fulham
1911–1915	Port Vale
1915–1917	→ Stockport County (guest)
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Robert Suart (1882 – 27 September 1918) was an English professional footballer who played in the Football League for Stockport County and Fulham as a wing half. He was killed in action during the First World War.

Career

After beginning his career in non-League football with Edgeley,^[4] Suart played in the Football League for Stockport County and Fulham,^[1]^[5] before joining Central League club Port Vale in July 1911.^[2] He helped the "Valeites" to win the 1911–12 Staffordshire Senior Cup, the 1912–13 Birmingham Senior Cup and the 1914–15 North Staffordshire Infirmary Cup.^[2] Vale went into abeyance in 1915 and Suart returned to Stockport County as a guest.^[2]

During the second year of the First World War in 1915, Suart enlisted as a private in the South Lancashire Regiment.^[6] He transferred to the Royal Warwickshire Regiment later that year and went on to see action at High Wood, Guillemont, Flers-Courcelette, Morval, Le Transloy, Arras and the Third Battle of Ypres during 1916 and 1917.^[6] His division was transferred to the Italian Front following the Third Battle of Ypres, but returned to France in April 1918.^[6] Suart was killed during a German counter-attack near Gouzeaucourt on 27 September 1918, just over six weeks before the Armistice.^[6] He is commemorated on the Vis-en-Artois Memorial.^[3]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club	Season	League			FA Cup		Total
Club	Season	Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Stockport County	1903–04^[5]	Second Division	6	1	0	0	6	1
	1904–05^[5]	Lancashire Combination First Division	33	4	5	0	38	4
	1905–06^[5]	Second Division	38	3	3	0	41	3
	1906–07^[5]	Second Division	36	2	2	0	38	2
	1907–08^[5]	Second Division	29	3	0	0	29	3
	Total		142	13	10	0	152	13
Fulham	1907–08^[6]	Second Division	6	1	0	0	6	1
	1908–09^[6]	Second Division	35	0	1	0	36	0
	1909–10^[6]	Second Division	33	0	3	0	36	0
	1910–11^[6]	Second Division	23	0	1	0	24	0
	Total		97	1	5	0	102	1
Port Vale	1911–12^[7]	Central League	30	0	0	0	30	0
	1912–13^[7]	Central League	33	2	4	0	37	2
	1913–14^[7]	Central League	32	2	8	1	40	3
	1914–15^[7]	Central League	35	0	3	0	38	0
	Total		130	4	15	1	145	5
Career total			369	18	30	1	399	19

Port Vale

^ ^a ^b Joyce, Michael (2012). Football League Players' Records 1888 to 1939. Nottingham: Tony Brown. p. 279. ISBN 978-1905891610.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Kent, Jeff (1996). Port Vale Personalities. Witan Books. p. 283. ISBN 0-9529152-0-0.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Casualty Details". Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Retrieved 19 January 2016.
^ "Suart Bob Fulham 1910". Vintage Footballers. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Watts, Ian. "Bob Suart County Record". gogogocounty.org. Retrieved 19 June 2017.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h "Bob Suart". Football and the First World War. Retrieved 19 January 2016.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Bob Suart at the English National Football Archive (subscription required)