William "Fatty" Foulke was born in Dawley, Shropshire, on 12th April 1874. After leaving school he found work in the Blackwell Colliery. A talented sportsman, Foulke played in goal for the works team.
On 20th December, 1893, the Derby Daily Telegraph reported: "The feature of the game was the goalkeeping of W. Foukes (sic) of Blackwell, who certainly has the making of a first-class custodian."
The following season Foulke was sold to Sheffield United for £20 and made his debut for his new club against West Bromwich Albion on 1st September, 1894. Foulke played 29 out of 30 Football League games in his first season at the club. In doing so, he kept the brilliant Arthur Wharton out of the first-team. He only missed three first team games over the next four years. On 2nd December, 1895, Scottish Sport reported: "In Foulke, Sheffield United have a goalkeeper who will take a lot of beating. He is one of those lengthy individuals who can take a seat on the crossbar whenever he chooses, and shows little of the awkwardness usually characteristic of big men."
That season Foulke had his wage increased to £3 a week, which included a retainer wage over the summer. Foulke and his team mates were also paid a ten-shilling (50p) bonus for an away win, and five shillings for a home win or away draw. Records show that for key games the players were paid £5 for a win. At the time, the average wage of a working man was about £1. However, someone with specialist skills could earn up to £2.50 a week.
William Foulke in 1894
In the 1896-97 season Sheffield United were runners-up behind the double-winning Aston Villa. Foulke had conceded just 29 goals throughout the campaign and the club had easily the best defensive record in the Football League. In the home game against the champions, Foulke caused a stir by bouncing the ball as far as the halfway line. This was within the rules at the time, but as players were able to barge into other players when they had the ball, goalkeepers saw that tactic as very risky. However, Foulke was fairly confident that he would be able to regain possession of the ball. C. B. Fry, the famous cricketer, who also played football for Southampton, remarked: "Foulke is no small part of a mountain. You cannot bundle him."
Foulke won his first international cap against Wales on 29th March 1897. Although England won 4-0, surprisingly, it was the only time he played for his country. At that time John Robinson was the regular England goalkeeper. Foulke was known to be unpopular with the Football Association. As the Sheffield Daily Telegraph pointed out: "It is a pity that Foulke cannot curb the habit of pulling down the crossbar, which on Saturday ended in his breaking it in two. On form, he is well in the running for international honours, but the Selection Committee are sure to prefer a man who plays the game to one who unnecessarily violates the spirit of the rules."
In 1895 Foulke only weighed 12st 10lb but over the next few years he put on a lot of weight and was nicknamed "Fatty" or "Colossus" by the fans. He once said: "I don't mind what they call me as long as they don't call me late for my lunch." One journalist wrote that: "His ponderous girth brings no inconvenience and the manner in which he gets down to low shots explodes any idea that a superfluity of flesh is a handicap."
Foulke was 6ft 2ins tall. At the time the average height for an adult male was only 5 ft 5 ins and therefore he towered over most of the players. This can be seen in the team photographs taken at the time.
Athletic News (1899)
Sheffield United, led by Ernest Needham, won the First Division championship of the Football League in the 1897-1898 season. Foulke only missed one game and the team had the best defensive record in the league and one journalist described Foulke as the "greatest goalkeeper in the world". In a game against Liverpool in November, 1898, George Allan tried to intimidate Foulke. The Liverpool Post reported that "Allan charged Foulke in the goalmouth, and the big man, losing his temper, seized him by the leg and turned him upside down."
Sheffield United struggled the following year in the league but the team beat Derby County in the 1899 FA Cup Final. Foulke's form remained good. J. A. H. Catton, who was the editor of the Athletic News, commented: "His kicking from goal was as mighty as ever, and his good right hand, doubled up, banged out incoming shots with the force of a sledgehammer."
Foulke was in great form in the 1899-1900 season and once again Sheffield United had the best defensive record in the league. The club finished in second place to Aston Villa.
William Foulke knocks a Tottenham Hotspur player down in the 1901 FA Cup Final.
The following season Foulke was a member of the Sheffield United team that reached the 1901 FA Cup Final against Tottenham Hotspur. Foulke and the other players were on a £10 win bonus. However, the Southern League side was on a promise of £25 a man if they won the cup. The game ended in a 2-2 draw. However, Spurs won the replay 3-1. The Sheffield Independent reported: "Foulke had a lot of work to do, and cleared with great power. He had not the ghost of a chance with any of the three shots that scored, while by his skill and judgment he helped to save his side from a heavier defeat than that sustained."
In 1901 Foulke got injured and was replaced by William Bigger. He did very well and Foulke did not immediately get back in the first-team when he recovered full fitness. Once back in the side he showed good form and Bigger decided to move on to West Ham United.
Foulke now weighed twenty stone but he remained in good form and his wages were increased to £4 a week. Forwards still tried to barge Foulke over the goal-line. As the Athletic News pointed out, when this happened: "he doesn't claim a foul, but simply places that paw of his on the shoulder of the charging gentleman in a most fatherly manner, and pushed him aside with an expression of get on one side, little boy".
On another occasion he fell on Laurie Bell of Sheffield Wednesday. As he later recalled: "It was really all an accident. Just as I was reaching for a high ball Bell came at me, and the result of the collision was that we both tumbled down, but it was his bad luck to be underneath, and I could not prevent myself from falling with both knees in his back. When I saw his face I got about the worst shock I ever have had on the football field. He looked as if he was dead."
Foulke was also a talented cricketer and played for Blackwell Colliery in the Derbyshire League. One journalist joked that every time Foulke went into bat "there is an appeal against the light". He was a good bowler and a fine slip catcher. In June 1900, Foulke was selected to play for Derbyshire against Essex in the County Cricket Championship. In his first innings he scored 53 in a Derbyshire total of 508. During Essex's innings, Foulke injured his hand with a badly split finger while fielding in the slips and did not take part in the rest of the game.
When he recovered from his injury he regained his place in the team. However, he only played in three more games before deciding that cricket posed a threat to his football career. Foulke remains in the record books as the heaviest ever first-class cricketer, anywhere in the world.
Foulke's main sport was football and he was also a member of the Sheffield United team that played Southampton in the 1902 FA Cup Final. Sheffield took an early lead but Southampton scored a controversial equalizer and the game was drawn 1-1. C. B. Fry wrote in the Southern Echo: "The outstanding feature of the match was the grand goalkeeping of Foulke. he made a number of good saves, and on two or three occasions cleared the ball from what appeared impossible positions. Once, near the end, from a corner, he effected an absolute miracle with four or five men right on to him."
Foulke was furious that the equalizing goal had been given after the game he went searching for the referee. The linesman, J. T. Howcroft, described how Frederick Wall, secretary of the Football Association, tried to placate the goalkeeper: "Foulke was exasperated by the goal and claimed it was in his birthday suit outside the dressing room, and I saw F. J. Wall, secretary of the FA, pleading with him to rejoin his colleagues. But Bill was out for blood, and I shouted to Mr. Kirkham to lock his cubicle door. He didn't need telling twice. But what a sight! The thing I'll never forget is Foulke, so tremendous in size, striding along the corridor, without a stitch of clothing."
Walter Bennett was injured and could not take part in the replay. He was replaced by William Barnes on the wing. The game was only two minutes old when a massive clearing kick by Foulke reached George Hedley and Sheffield United took an early lead. Led by the outstanding Ernest Needham, Sheffield dominated play but Albert Brown managed to score a equalizer. Southampton began to apply pressure but according to the Athletic News, "Foulke was invincible". With ten minutes to go, Needham took a shot that the Southampton goalkeeper, John Robinson, could only block, and Barnes was able to hit the ball into the unguarded net. Sheffield won 2-1 and Foulke had won another medal.
The Sheffield United team that appeared in the 1901 FA Cup Final. Back row,
left to right: Harry Johnson, Henry Thickett, William Foulke, Peter Boyle,
Bernard Wilkinson, Ernest Needham. Front row: Walter Bennett, Alf Common,
George Hedley, Fred Priest and Bert Lipsham.
After the game, Howard Vincent, the Member of Parliament for Sheffield Central, commented that "our giant goalkeeper Foulke, with his tremendous smite and prodigious kick, the best goalkeeper football has ever seen."
Such was his fame that on 6th September 1902, Foulke was filmed by Sagar Mitchell and James Kenyon during a match against Bury. The game, which Sheffield United won 1-0, is included in the DVD Edwardian Sports.
Foulke got into trouble with the authorities for gamesmanship. He was known for pulling down on the crossbar to give a high shot a marginally smaller target. He was also an expert at time-wasting if his club was trying to hold onto a narrow lead.
In 1903 William and his wife Beatrice purchased a general store on Asline Road, Sheffield. It was a great success and later the couple ran a beer house at 363 Bramall Lane.
By 1903 Foulke weighed over twenty stone but he remained in good form and his wages were increased to £4 a week. Foulke could kick the ball the length of the field and it was said that he could punch the ball as far as some players could kick it. According to one contemporary account, Foulke could punch "the ball well over the half-way line." He was also described as "a leviathan at 22 stone with the agility of a bantam".
Forwards still tried to barge Foulke over the goal-line. At that time the shoulder charge remained an important part of the game. This could be used against players even if they did not have the ball. If a goalkeeper caught the ball, he could be barged over the line. This was a problem that was rarely encountered by Foulke.
As the Athletic News pointed out, when this happened: "he doesn't claim a foul, but simply places that paw of his on the shoulder of the charging gentleman in a most fatherly manner, and pushed him aside with an expression of get on one side, little boy". Another newspaper described a match against Bolton Wanderers in March, 1904: "Stokes rushed past both backs and seemed likely to dribble through, but the mountain of flesh which is posed by Foulke hove in sight, and appeared to paralyse the little Wanderer, who simply shot into the hands of the leviathan."
Foulke's increasing weight did make it more difficult to get down to fast low shots. He started receiving a lot of abuse from fans standing behind the goal. One newspaper reported that "their language is most dirty, to say nothing of the bitterness with which they taunt Foulke...it has become so bad that today a large staff of detectives has been engaged to catch the delinquents, and it will go hard with the wrongdoers."
In a game in November, 1904, Bury beat Sheffield United 7-1. The report in the Athletic News stated: "Foulke's weakness is his inability to capture low shots. He got low ones on Saturday."
After playing in over 350 games for Sheffield United Foulke decided to leave the club when he refused to take a pay cut. In May 1905 Foulke was sold to Chelsea for a transfer fee of £50. The Sheffield Independent reported that "William Foulke, the famous giant goalkeeper, who has played a prominent part in many of the greatest deeds of the Sheffield United Football Club, has been transferred to Chelsea, a newly formed club... Foulke, who declined less than the maximum wages, had not signed for United. He is to receive the maximum from Chelsea."
Chelsea had just joined the Football League and in his first season he helped them to finish in 3rd place in the Second Division behind Bristol City and Manchester United. Foulke's form was very good and he managed to save ten penalties that season. However, he continued to put on weight. According to one report, Foulke was known to arrive early for breakfast, set for the entire Chelsea team, and eat the lot.
William Foulke at Chelsea
Foulke only played 35 games for Chelsea before moving to Bradford City. Again his transfer fee was £50. He started well and the Bradford Daily Argus reported that "there is no doubt that the mighty goalkeeper is doing a great deal in the direction of inspiring confidence in the team." This did not stop the newspaper making fun of their large goalkeeper. On 29th September, 1906, it reported that a cab horse had a narrow escape when it nearly collided with Foulke when he was crossing the Strand. Foulke was quoted as saying: "I would have jumped on the beggar's back before I would have let him come into me."
However, he now weighed over 25 stone, and was no longer as agile as he was and he retired from first-class football in November 1907. Foulke remains in the record books as the heaviest ever first-class footballer to play anywhere in the world.
In 1908 Foulke took over a larger shop in Matilda Street. He also ran The Duke public house in Sheffield. The police raided the pub on 29th September 1910. Foulke was searched and forty-five betting slips were found on his person. He replied to questions from the police that he had "no idea how they got there". Foulke was eventually found guilty of being involved in illegal betting and was fined £25 and lost his job running the public house.
William "Fatty" Foulke died on 1st May 1916
