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HARRY DIGWEED
Born: 16 May 1878
Came from: Burton United Went to: Portsmouth
First game: 01 September 1903 Last game: 24 February 1904
Appearances: 31 (31/0) Goals: 0
Born on Portsea Island in Hampshire, the island containing the majority of the city of Portsmouth.
He began his career with his home town club in the Southern League, first signing for the club in 1899 and playing reserve and exhibition games on the unnamed ground on Goldsmith Avenue, which would officially become Fratton Park later that year. He initially joined as an amateur, having served as an apprentice in Portsmouth Dockyard and played for the Dockyard's Apprentices Team before moving to local club side Portsmouth Hornets, from whom he signed. He played mainly for the reserves as a left-half during 1899-00, Portsmouth's first season in the Southern League under new manager Frank Brettell, who had arrived from Spurs. He then turned professional in December 1900 and also played in the 1900-01 and 1901-02 seasons, making first-team appearances in each of those three seasons.
He then moved into the Football League with Burton United, signing in June 1902. United had been established in 1901 by a merger of former Football League sides Burton Swifts and Burton Wanderers and played in the Football League from 1901 to 1907. When the club dissolved in 1910, Burton would not be represented in the Football League again until Burton Albion were promoted in 2009. A left-half, he played 39 times for United in the Second Division.
Some contemporary sources then show a brief spell with Middlesbrough, but this appears unsubstantiated and difficult to fit into the timeline.
Burton were keen to retain him, but what is known is that, in May 1903, he joined Argyle for their inaugural professional season in the Southern League under Frank Brettell, his former manager at Portsmouth, who was no doubt significantly persuasive in enabling the reunion. Brettell had moved to Home Park to do the same job he had carried out so effectively on the south coast, overseeing the club's entry into the Southern League and professionalism. Along with Harry, Brettell also recruited Tom Cleghorn as player/trainer. Digweed became virtually an ever-present for the first six months of the debut Southern League campaign before losing his place in the team.
At the end of the season, he re-joined Southern League Portsmouth in May 1904 and spent the next five seasons back at Fratton Park, with his final season coming in 1908-09. In total, across his two spells with Pompey, he played 137 times in the Southern League and 38 times in the Western League, either side of his spell at Home Park.
By 1911, he was back working in Portsmouth Dockyard as a shipwright and was still working in the Dockyard at the start of the Second World War in 1939. He remained living locally until he passed away in Portsmouth, with his death registered in the June quarter of 1965, aged 86.
YOUR CONTRIBUTION
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From Paul Boynton in New Malden, Surrey on 17 Dec 2024 ...
I am part of the Pompey History Society. I am currently researching players who played for Portsmouth in the Southern League days, prior to 1920.
I am currently working on Harry Digweed, with particular emphasis on his time at Portsmouth.
Harry was with Portsmouth from 1899, having joined as an amateur from a local club Portsmouth Hornets. He mainly played for the Reserves during 1899/00, 1900/01, and 1901/02, although he did make first team appearances in each of these seasons.
He signed for Burton Utd on 2/6/1902 and made 39 appearances in FL Div 2, making his last appearance on 25/4/1903.
He rejoined Portsmouth on 3/5/1904 and spent the next 5 seasons back at Fratton Park.
He died in Portsmouth in 1965.
APPEARANCE DETAILS [reselect competitions]
The details below reflect appearances in all first-team competitions.
We are very grateful to many who have helped write GoS-DB's player pen-pictures, and to Dave Rowntree and the PAFC Media Team for their help with photos. Thanks also to staff at the National Football Museum, the Scottish Football Museum and ScotlandsPeople for their valuable assistance.
The following publications have been particularly valuable in the research of pen-pictures: Plymouth Argyle, A Complete Record 1903-1989 (Brian Knight, ISBN 0-907969-40-2); Plymouth Argyle, 101 Golden Greats (Andy Riddle, ISBN 1-874287-47-3); Football League Players' Records 1888-1939 (Michael Joyce, ISBN 1-899468-67-6); Football League Players' Records 1946-1988 (Barry Hugman, ISBN 1-85443-020-3) and Plymouth Argyle Football Club Handbooks.
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