Frank Moss
Personal information
Full name Frank Moss[1]
Date of birth 17 April 1895
Place of birth Aston, England
Date of death 15 September 1965(1965-09-15) (aged 70)[2]
Place of death Worcester, England
Height 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)[3]
Position(s) Wing half
Youth career
Burlington Street
0000–1912 Aston Manor
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1912–1914 Walsall
1914–1929 Aston Villa 255 (9)
1929 Cardiff City 9 (0)
1929–1930 Bromsgrove Rovers
Worcester City
International career
1921–1924 England 5 (0)
Football League XI 2 (0)
Managerial career
1929–1930 Bromsgrove Rovers (player-manager)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Frank Moss (17 April 1895 – 15 September 1965) was an English professional footballer who made over 250 appearances as a wing half in the Football League for Aston Villa. He was capped by England at international level and represented the Football League XI.

Club career

After beginning his career in local Birmingham football,[4] Moss joined First Division club Aston Villa for a £250 fee in February 1914 and made two appearances late in the 1914–15 season,[2] but he had to wait until after the First World War before he could begin his professional career in earnest.[2] During the war, Moss guested for Bellis and Morcom, Aston Park Rangers, Smethwick Carriage Works and Bradford City.[5] He captained the club and was a part of the Villa teams which won the 1919–20 FA Cup and finished runners-up in 1923–24.[2][6] After a dispute over a testimonial and a ban from the FA, Moss departed Villa Park in January 1929, after making 255 appearances and scoring 9 goals for the club.[6][2] He finished the 1928–29 season with First Division club Cardiff City and left to join Birmingham Combination club Bromsgrove Rovers as player-manager for the 1929–30 season.[6][7] Moss finished his career with Worcester City.[6]

International career

Moss won five caps for England at international level and represented the Football League XI.[6]

Personal life

Moss attended Burlington Street School in Aston and as of 1911 was working as a canal boatman.[8] He later married and had four children, two of whom became footballers – Amos and Frank Jr.[6] In November 1915, 15 months after Britain's entry into the First World War, Moss enlisted as a private in the Lincolnshire Regiment.[2] He saw action during the Third Battle of Ypres and shrapnel wounds to his left knee saw him sent back to Britain to be a physical training instructor.[2] Moss ended the war with the rank of corporal.[9] A decade after being wounded in the war, Moss declined the shrapnel being removed from his knee at the same time as undergoing a knee cartilage operation relating to his football career.[8] The shrapnel remained in his knee until his death in 1965.[8] According to a 1939 register, Moss was the licensed victualler of a hostelry in Worcester.[6]

Career statistics

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League FA Cup Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Aston Villa 1914–15[2] First Division 2 0 0 0 2 0
1919–20[2] 16 0 2 0 18 0
1920–21[2] 32 1 4 0 36 1
1921–22[2] 35 3 6 0 41 3
1922–23[2] 32 2 1 0 33 2
1923–24[2] 34 0 4 0 38 0
1924–25[2] 19 2 3 0 22 2
1925–26[2] 31 0 4 0 35 0
1926–27[2] 35 1 1 0 36 1
1927–28[2] 17 0 3 0 20 0
1928–29[2] 2 0 0 0 2 0
Total 255 9 28 0 283 9
Cardiff City 1928–29[2] First Division 9 0 — 9 0
Career total 264 9 28 0 292 9

Honours

Aston Villa

References

  1. ↑ Joyce, Michael (2012). Football League Players' Records 1888 to 1939 (Third edition, with revisions ed.). Toton, Nottingham: Tony Brown. p. 212. ISBN 9781905891610. OCLC 841581272.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 "Frank Moss Aston Villa". Football and the First World War. Retrieved 24 November 2017.
  3. ↑ Brum (22 August 1921). "First Division prospects. Aston Villa". Athletic News. Manchester. p. 5.
  4. ↑ "Moss Frank Aston Villa 1923". Vintage Footballers. Retrieved 16 March 2019.
  5. ↑ "Moss, Frank (Senior) "Snowy"". Aston Villa Player Database. Retrieved 13 April 2022.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "England Players – Frank Moss". www.englandfootballonline.com. Retrieved 16 March 2019.
  7. ↑ "1929–30 A Record Breaking Year". www.worcestercityfc.org. Retrieved 13 April 2022.
  8. 1 2 3 "Frank Moss – 20 People of the 20s". The National Archives. Retrieved 2 February 2023.
  9. ↑ "Frank James Moss | Service Record". Football and the First World War. Retrieved 16 March 2019.
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