Harold Halse

Infobox Football biography
playername = Harold Halse


fullname = Harold James Halse
dateofbirth = birth date|1886|1|1|df=y
cityofbirth = Stratford, London
countryofbirth = England
dateofdeath = death date and age|1949|3|25|1886|1|1|df=y
cityofdeath = Colchester, Essex
countryofdeath = England
height = convert|5|ft|8|in|m|2|abbr=on
position = Forward
youthyears =
youthclubs = Wanstead
Newportians
Barking Town
years = 1905-1906
1906-1907
1908-1912
1912-1913
1913-1921
1921-1923
clubs = Clapton Orient
Southend United
Manchester United
Aston Villa
Chelsea
Charlton Athletic
caps(goals) = 003 0(2)
065 (91)
109 (41)
031 (21)
096 (23)
021 0(5)
nationalyears = 1909
nationalteam = England
nationalcaps(goals) = 001 0(2)

Harold James Halse (1 January 1886 – 25 March 1949) was an English football forward, who played most of his career for Manchester United and then for Chelsea. He was the first player to appear in three FA Cup finals for three different clubs.

Career

He was born in Stratford, London and started his football career as an amateur with Wanstead, Newportians, Barking Town and Clapton Orient, where he made three appearances in the Football League.

He then joined Southend United, scoring 91 goals in 65 appearances in the 1906–07 season. He transferred to Manchester United in 1908 for the maximum transfer fee allowed at that time, £350. He scored 56 goals in 125 appearances for United, and won the First Division title in 1908 and 1911, and the FA Cup in 1909. In the 1911 FA Charity Shield against Swindon Town, Halse scored six goals for United in an 8-4 win for his team.

He moved to Aston Villa for £1200 in 1912. He won the 1913 FA Cup with Villa, but signed for Chelsea shortly afterwards. While at Chelsea Halse once again reached an FA Cup final, in 1915, although this time he finished on the losing side. He remained with Chelsea until 1921, scoring 25 goals in 111 games [cite book | author=Glanvill, Rick | title=Chelsea FC: The Official Biography - The Definitive Story of the First 100 Years| publisher=Headline Book Publishing Ltd| year=2006| id=ISBN 0-7553-1466-2 | pages=p. 403] , and had a spell at Charlton Athletic before retiring in 1923.

Halse was the first player to appear in three FA Cup finals for three different clubs.Cite web|url=http://www.thefa.com/TheFACup/TheFACup/NewsAndFeatures/Postings/2003/05/48711.htm|title=FA Cup Trivia| accessyear=2008|accessmonthday=Jan 28| publisher=The FA| author=] [cite book|last=Unknown|first=|title=Cup Final Programme|date=1915]

Halse was capped once for England, in an 8-1 win over Austria on 1 June 1909; Halse scored twice.

He died on 25 March 1949.

Honours

Manchester United
*First Division winner: 1907-08, 1910-11
*FA Cup winner: 1909

Aston Villa
*FA Cup winner: 1913

Chelsea
*FA Cup: Runners Up 1915

References