Express & Star

Help us to spruce up West Bromwich Albion stars' graves

They were both among the first stars of football, and made dozens of appearances for their clubs, also representing their country, earning their well-deserved places in the football history books.

Published

Billy Bassett and George 'Spry' Woodhall both made names for themselves playing for West Bromwich Albion before winning caps for England.

Now a call has gone out to the club to ensure their final resting place in West Bromwich is worthy of their achievements on the pitch.

The grave of former WBA chairman and player Billy Bassett at All Saints Churchyard
Centre-forward George 'Spry' Woodhall
Outside right William 'Billy' Bassett

And one local group has now taken matters into their own hands as they plan a clean-up of the churchyard, in which the men were both laid to rest.

Both former players are buried at All Saints Church in All Saints Way where work is under way to clear weeds and overgrown shrubs and spruce up the weather-worn graves.

Lifelong Baggies fan Roy Jones, who is leading the project with the Friends of Old Church Graveyard, believes the pair deserve the best – and is now trying to get the club involved in the project.

Mr Bassett scored 61 times in 261 appearances for Albion between 1886 and 1899.

The winger also had an impressive goals return for the Three Lions, netting eight times in 16 games.

His goal record briefly made him one of football's early celebrities towards the end of the 19th century.

Bassett, who was also the first player in the club's history to be sent off, then became chairman in 1908 at a time when the club was facing financial meltdown and helped Albion avoid bankruptcy.

At the club's annual general meeting in 1936, he was presented with a silver casket to mark his 50 years of association with Albion.

His son Norman was also involved with the club as a director for 15 years between 1937 to 1952.

He remained chairman until his death in 1937 at the age of 68.

Mr Woodhall, meanwhile, made 44 appearances for the Baggies between 1883 and1892 and also went on to do what is now the unthinkable for a former West Brom player, and play a handful of games for Wolves.

He was known for his ability to cross a ball with great accuracy and played well and combined well with other players, including Mr Bassett.

He became the first Black Country-born player to score for his country in 1888 when England played Wales. His goal, England's third of the match, was his country's 100th international goal.

During the same year, he also grabbed the winner in Albion's 2-1 FA Cup final victory over Preston.

A member of the Friends group, Margaret Gill, is his great-great granddaughter, while Richie Woodhall, Britain's Olympic gold medal-winning boxer is also a relation.

Mr Jones, aged 71, said the group is hoping to get the club on board with their work to tidy up the churchyard.

Ideas so far including carrying out collections for donations outside the Hawthorns.

He added: "We have informed West Bromwich Albion and they have asked us to give them a wish list to present to the board.

"Jeremy Peace wants to know what's going on and what we want to do.

"We have also put in an appeal to West Bromwich Albion Fanzone on Facebook.

"If we can have buckets by the entrance on a matchday, even if people just put a quid in, if we get 10,000 fans to do it, it would buy us an eternity for that graveyard."

Mr Jones said that as a Baggies supporter, he felt that he should take on the responsibility of restoring the graves to their former glories, as well of those of others in the churchyard.

He said: "Every time I pass the grave I say 'morning Billy'. It's just a silly thing but he deserves it.

"Some families have probably died off and others have moved away and don't get a chance to come over.

"I think they deserve respect even after 100 years," he said.

Anyone wanting to support the group is asked to search for 'Friends of Old Church Graveyard' on Facebook.

Sorry, we are not accepting comments on this article.