Fred Briggs
Personal information
Full name	Fred Briggs
Date of birth	15 August 1914(1914-08-15)
Place of birth	Wombwell, England
Date of death	October 1985 (age 71)
Place of death	Rotherham, England
Height	5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)
Playing position	Forward
Youth career
1932	Mexborough Town Wombwell
Senior career1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1932–1935 1935–1938 1938–1939	Rotherham United Reading Southampton	74 (17) 27 0(6) 36 (14)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. * Appearances (Goals)

Fred Briggs (15 August 1914 – October 1985) was an English professional footballer who played as a forward for Rotherham United, Reading and Southampton in the 1930s.

Contents 1 Playing career 1.1 Rotherham United 1.2 Reading 1.3 Southampton 1.4 Later career 2 References

[edit] Playing career

[edit] Rotherham United

He was born in Wombwell and played as a youth for Mexborough Town and Wombwell before joining Third Division North team Rotherham United in May 1932. Essentially a right winger, Briggs came into the side at the start of the 1932–33 season and played in nine of the opening ten games. His subsequent appearances were spread out with six successive games being his best spell. He had only netted a couple of goals before he rounded off the season with a brace in the last game of the season, a 6–1 home victory over Halifax Town.

Following the arrival of George Raynor the next season, Briggs switched to inside forward missing just five league games; he stepped up his scoring rate finding the net in four consecutive league games in March with seven goals in eight games. After the first six games of the 1934–35 season he lost his place to Roland Bastow and played just three more games, his last being a 2–2 home draw against Crewe Alexandra on 15 December 1934.

[edit] Reading

He moved south to join Reading in June 1935, where he found first team opportunities scarce, making only 27 league appearances in three seasons.

[edit] Southampton

In May 1938, he was signed on a free transfer by Second Division Southampton. Manager Tom Parker saw him as the ideal player to pair with Harry Osman up front. Briggs made his first start on 24 September 1938 in a defeat at Newcastle United, but soon settled into the side. In a run of twelve matches from mid-October to Christmas, he scored ten goals including a hat-trick at home to Swansea Town on 26 November. By the end of the season he was the Saints' top scorer with 14 goals.^[1]

[edit] Later career

The outbreak of war then brought Briggs's playing career to a premature end. Although he played for the "Saints" in the first wartime season, he moved on to guest for several clubs, including Fulham and Watford.

There is little public information about his post-war career, although he never again played professional football.

[edit] References