Jack Grealish's great-great grandfather was a great player - Billy Garraty was Division One top scorer in 1899-1900

 

The great-great grandfather of Jack Grealish was a GREAT PLAYER

IN 1899-1900 HE FINISHED TOP SCORER IN THE TOP FLIGHT

 

GARRATY, BILLY (ASTON VILLA)

Season: 1899/1900

Goals scored: 27 (out of 77); 17 home, 10 away

Percentage: 28.5 per cent

Runner-up: Steve Bloomer (Derby County), 19 goals

Villa were League Champions

 

Billy Garraty set a new Aston Villa scoring record in 1899/1900 when, in a total of forty first-class matches, he netted thirty-one goals, twenty-seven in the League. His closest rival was his strike partner Jack Devey with eighteen (thirteen in the League) and Garraty’s tally could and should have been higher, as he missed two penalties!

Nevertheless, his haul of twenty-seven in the League remains as the second highest total in any one season by a Villa player; the great Tom ‘Pongo’ Waring holds the record, with an amazing haul of forty-nine in 1930/31.

In 1899/1900, Billy played wonderfully well – nothing seemed to bother him. He was confident, even arrogant at times, as he took on and beat some of the best defenders in the game and scored some smashing goals. One journalist described him as being ‘an industrious, never-say-die

Taking over from George Johnson (injured) and with Devey on his right and Fred Wheldon to his left, he lined up in the opening League game of the campaign at Sunderland, and celebrated by scoring the winner (1-0). He never looked back!

In the next game in front of his own supporters, Garraty was ‘on fire’, scoring four times in a resounding 9-0 win over Glossop ... ‘One of his efforts, struck from distance, almost tore a hole in the beak of the net,’ wrote one reporter.

He took a knock in the third game (a 2-0 home defeat by neighbours West Brom) and limped along in the second half, but he was fit for the fourth League encounter, scoring in a 2-1 win at Everton.

Surprisingly – and certainly not for the want of trying – over the next ten weeks or so, he failed to score a single goal but aided and abetted his colleagues with some clever flicks, delicate chipped passes, smart headers and a lot of off-the-ball running, pulling defenders all over the place!

In fact, Garraty missed the away game at Notts County in mid-October through injury and his replacement, Johnson, bagged a hat-trick in a 4-1 victory. At that juncture, somethought his position was under threat. No chance!

He returned with confidence and although he didn’t get on the scoresheet as was expected, his contribution was outstanding as Villa surged to the top of the First Division table.

On 2 December he scored his first goal for nearly three months in an emphatic 5-0 win at Preston, and later in the month claimed his second hat-trick of the season as Villa completed the double over Sunderland with an excellent 4-2 home victory.

Now bang in form and going for their fifth First Division Championship triumph in seven seasons, Villa lost only one of their last thirteen League games as they took the top prize, finishing two points ahead of Sheffield United (50–48).

Garraty scored in eight of those games. He struck both goals in a revenge 2-0 victory over West Brom, netted twice in 4-0 and 3-2 victories at Blackburn and at home to Derby, struck another treble as Notts County got hammered 6-2 (one of his right-footed strikes hitting the underside of the crossbar and one of the uprights before flying into the net), notched a vital goal in the crucial top-of-the-table 1-1 draw with Sheffield United, netted twice (one a real beauty) at Manchester City (won 2-0) and did likewise to see off Preston North End (3-1) .

The reporter covering the Manchester City game for the local Sports Argus wrote, ‘Garraty’s performance was of the highest order ... he had far too much energy and power for the opposition and his incisiveness, intelligent play and judgment was quite outstanding.

The best of his three goals was his second – a splendid right foot shot following smart work down the right by Athersmith and Devey.’

Surprisingly, both Garraty and the team as a whole disappointed all and sundry during the next two seasons, but things improved greatly in 1902/03 as Villa finished second in the First Division table, Garraty notching fifteen goals. He also won his only England cap in a 2-1 win over Wales at Portsmouth in the March, when he played ‘up front’ alongside his Villa teammate Joe Bache.

Confident and in good form, he followed up in 1903/04 with another nine League goals and the following season weighed in with eight more, while also gaining an FA Cup winner’s medal when he was named ‘Man of the Match’ after Villa had beaten Newcastle United 2-0

in the final before a then-record crowd of 101,117 at Crystal Palace.

After scoring another twenty-one goals in 1905/06, he managed just two the following year, and at this juncture his association with Villa looked like ending. But he held in there and played well for a short time after being switched to right-half. However, he and the fans knew that his career in top-flight football was slowly coming to an end. He was fast approaching his thirtieth birthday when, in September 1908, after an eleven-year stay at Villa

Park, he was transferred to Leicester Fosse for £350, having scored 112 goals in 259 senior appearances in the claret and blue strip.

He never really settled in at Leicester, failing to find the net in six appearances, and in October 1908 was sold to Second-Division West Bromwich Albion for £270. Two years later, in November 1910, after netting twenty-two times in fifty-nine games for the Baggies, Garraty moved to Lincoln City for £100, announcing his retirement, through injury, in the summer of 1911.

He returned to Villa Park as a trainer in April 1903, but fell ill with pneumonia and spent several weeks in hospital. Thankfully, he regained full health and subsequently went to work as a beer delivery driver at Ansells Brewery, remaining there until his death in Aston, Birmingham on 6 May 1931.

Born in Saltley, Birmingham on 6 October 1878 and a pupil at Church Road and Saltley St Saviour’s schools (Birmingham), Garraty played for Ashted Swifts, St Saviour’s FC, Highfield Villa, Lozells FC and Aston Shakespeare before joining Aston Villa as a professional in August 1897 – a few months after the Birmingham club had emulated Preston North End’s feat of capturing the League and FA Cup double.

He made his League debut towards the end of the 1897/98 season, in a 1-1 home draw with Stoke, and after a long spell in the reserves, was brought back into the first team late on in 1898/99. He played supremely well, scored six goals (including a hat-trick in a thumping 7-1 win over West Bromwich Albion) in nine games and helped Villa win the First Division championship again, thus collecting his first club medal as the League title was retained.

During his time at Villa Park, Garraty was regarded as one of the great utility players of the game. Apart from his ability to score goals, he set up many more for his colleagues and there is no doubt he would have scored many more goals for Villa if he had been allowed to play as an out-and-out striker.