Bert Kingaby

Bert Kingaby
Fulham info
Full name	Herbert Charles Lawrence Kingaby
Nickname(s)	Rabbit
Date of birth	Jan-Apr 1880
Place of birth	Hackney, London, England
Date of death	17 May 1934
Place of death	Redbridge, Hampshire, England
Height	5ft 6in (1.68m)
Playing position	Outside right
Current player?
Debut	Crystal Palace (a) (15 Sept 1906)
Last Appearance	West Ham (a) (27 Apr 1907)
First goal	Millwall (a) (29 Sept 1906)
Last goal	Bristol Rovers (a) (13 Apr 1907)
Joined from	Aston Villa - May 1906
Left for	Leyton - May 1907
League apps (gls)	33 (3)
All apps (gls)	40 (3)
Other clubs	West Hampstead (?-1903) Clapton Orient (1903-06) Aston Villa (1906) Leyton (1907-10) Peterborough City (1910-13) Croydon Common (1913-16)

Bert Kingaby was an outside right, formerly of Fulham. He spent one season at Fulham, in 1906-07, where he played 33 Southern League matches and scored three goals. Nicknamed 'Rabbit' due to his pace, he was notable in English football for bringing legal preceedings against Aston Villa for preventing him playing under the 'retain-and-transfer system' that had been introduced in 1893. He was noted to have worked for a wool manufacturer in London, and thus was only free to play at the weekend or on bank holidays.

Career

Before Fulham

Bert joined Clapton Orient from West Hampstead in August 1903, represented them in their first ever Football League match and scored their first ever League goal. He played for them for around 2 and a half years. Aston Villa bought him from Clapton Orient for £300 in March 1906 (at the time the fee was undisclosed even to the player), but after two months were unimpressed with his ability. Aston Villa, not wanting to lose out on the £300 they had spent on him, offered to sell him back to Clapton Orient at half the price but Clapton, nor any other clubs were interested; the former were unable to afford his services more than lack of interest. Kingaby's wage of £4 per week was stopped, and he was put on Aston Villa's retained players list as of the close season 1906. This prevented him from playing for any other Football League club until their demands were met, this time back at £300. Bert was angry about being denied his freedom to move to another club in the league, but ultimately moved to Fulham due to them playing in the Southern League, which was unaffected by Football League rules.

Fulham (1906-1907)

Still officially an Aston Villa player, Bert was able to play for Fulham in 1906-07 due to their non-league status as a Southern League side. He represented the club 40 times in total that season, scoring three league goals. He became a fan favourite in his short time at Craven Cottage, and his pace and dribbling ability was considered far better than that of the average Southern League winger at the time. Bert helped Fulham to their most successful season at that time in their history, winning the Southern League and Western League titles in 1907. Unfortunately for the club, as they were soon to be elected into the Football League's Second Division, Bert would be ineligible to play for Fulham due to Aston Villa still not releasing him from his contract.

After Fulham

With the contract issues he was still struggling with at Aston Villa, Bert moved to Leyton in the Southern League for three seasons before representing Peterborough City for the same amount of time. It was whilst at Peterborough City, in 1912, that he finally brought the case to court over Aston Villa's retaining of him against his will. With the backing of the Football Union financially, he went to the High Court but lost his case due to errors by his barrister, who made no attempt to prove that it was a restraint of trade. As a result, the Union were almost ruined financially and membership fell drastically.

Bert later played out his career with Croydon Common, retiring from playing professionally in 1916.

Fulham Statistics

Season	Southern League		Western League		FA Cup		Total
	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
1906-07	33	3	3	0	4	0	40	3
Total	33	3	3	0	4	0	40	3

Fulham Matches

#	Season	Date	Comp	Opposition	Venue	Result	Score	Additional Information
1	1906-07	15 Sept 1906	SL1	Crystal Palace	Away	Lost	0-3

Editing in progress

External links and references