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Primrose Hill, Blackwell, Derbyshire. Foulke lived in this row of houses until his marriage

A slim and youthful Foulke in his Blackwell Colliery FC days before the weight piled on!

Foulke in his prime!

A man-mountain. Foulke in 1905, dwarfing his Chelsea colleagues

The long overdue biography of William Foulke published in 2005 - an entertaining read

                                                               THE BLACKWELL GIANT 

FOLLOWING THE DISCOVERY OF A FILM FEATURING RARE ACTION SHOTS OF THE GIANT GOALKEEPER WILLIAM ‘FATTY’ FOULKE, PETER SEDDON EXPLORES THE DERBYSHIRE ROOTS OF THE MAN KNOWN TO VICTORIAN AND EDWARDIAN FOOTBALL FANS AS ‘THE BLACKWELL GIANT’.

There is a saying in football that ‘goalkeepers are crazy’. Perhaps it arose because they have more opportunity to display eccentricity than the outfield players. And they stand close to the crowd. So their ‘craziness’ is more apparent.

The first true celebrity of that ilk was William Henry Foulke, who kept goal for Sheffield United, Chelsea and Bradford City between 1894 and 1907. He was selected once for England, stood 6 feet 2 inches tall, and acquired the nickname ‘Fatty’ - for reasons which became progressively obvious as his career advanced.

His bulk and character made him a star of a century ago. But rediscovered film shown in BBC’s ‘The Lost World of Mitchell and Kenyon’ has put Foulke back in the spotlight. And his biography has now been published. All of which makes it noteworthy that ‘Fatty’ Foulke was a Derbyshire lad to the core.

That may come as a surprise considering he was born in the coal-mining town of Dawley near Telford. But he didn’t remain a Shropshire lad for long. Just four weeks after his birth on 12 April 1874 he was taken to Derbyshire to live with his paternal grandparents James and Jane Foulke in Blackwell. And there he grew up, so fully-fledged a Derbyshire adoptee that he was even able to represent the county at cricket.

His childhood home was 122 Primrose Hill, Blackwell. The terraced house no longer stands. But the walled sports ground opposite the row survives. That was where the young lad first learnt to play football and cricket. But his youth passed all too quickly. When he was 13 he left Blackwell Colliery School and went down the pit, where he stayed until a full-time football career provided a way out.

Willie’s talent first became apparent when he turned out for Blackwell Colliery Football Club, who were then a real force in the Derbyshire League. Although he was only in his late teens, his size and ability got him noticed. A six-foot-two ‘goalie’ is nothing now, but the average male height in late-Victorian England was around 5’ 9’’. So Foulke was a giant among men, although not initially a ‘fatty’. In his younger days he was quite slim.

Blackwell carried all before them in 1892-93. Nineteen-year-old William played every game. The team certainly gained the bragging rights in Derbyshire that season. Blackwell beat Alfreton 10-3, Wirksworth 9-0, Ilkeston Town 7-0 and poor Ripley Town 10-1. Just 29 goals were scored against Foulke. It was only a matter of time before the professional clubs moved in on the young ‘keeper.

Derby County ought to have been favourites to sign the ‘Blackwell Giant’. ‘The Rams’ certainly had a close look at the local prodigy, not least their captain John Goodall. When the teams met in a ‘friendly’ in 1893 Foulke managed to knock out two of Johnny’s teeth when fisting out a cross!

In the event it was Sheffield United who nicked the Foulke signature right from under Derby County’s nose. A deal with ‘The Blades’ was done on 28 April 1894, the day of the Derbyshire Charity Cup Final between Blackwell and Derby Town at Ilkeston. Foulke signed the forms in the Ilkeston dressing rooms straight after the game. The transfer fee was £20. Moments later a representative of ‘The Rams’ rushed in to try and do likewise. Derby had dithered too long.

The move not only signalled the start of a great career, but also pitted Foulke against Derby County on a number of memorable occasions. Steve Bloomer had many ‘one to one’ encounters with Willie. When the two sides first met in the League in 1894, Bloomer scored one of the goals in a 4-1 home win for Derby at the Racecourse Ground. On 20 October 1900 he put a hat-trick past Foulke at the Baseball Ground. But at other times the giant frame of the custodian seemed to foil Bloomer just when it mattered most - and never more so than in the 1899 Cup Final at the Crystal Palace. While Foulke played a blinder, Jack ‘String’ Fryer in the Derby goal had a hot time of it. ‘The Rams’ were beaten 4-1.

What a contrast the two keepers made. Fryer was also very tall, but as his nickname implied rather a beanpole. And by this time Foulke had thickened out. By 1900 he tipped the scales at a remarkable 20 stone. Yet he was still supremely agile and wonderfully light on his feet.

It was in that year that he played four games for Derbyshire County Cricket Club. His highest score with the bat was 53 against Essex, but his average was a meagre 10.83. And his bowling was similarly fickle. Against Nottinghamshire at Chesterfield he sent the Derbyshire crowd into raptures by bagging two wickets in his first over. But they were the only wickets he ever took for Derbyshire. Overall he was hit for 92 runs off 114 balls. Nevertheless his presence provided great ‘sport’ for the cricket writers - ‘Foulke came to the wicket and there was an immediate appeal against the light’.

By the time he left Sheffield United for the newly-formed Chelsea FC in 1905 Foulke was one of the most iconic figures in British sport, indeed in the whole of society. And his celebrity was certainly cultivated by the press, who reported every last antic of ‘The Leviathan’. On one occasion he swung on and broke the crossbar. Brave but small forwards were wont to bounce off him. And he had regular contretemps with referees and even members of the crowd. But much was hugely exaggerated, just like the man himself. Think ‘Gazza’ and add a bit.

At Chelsea his reputation continued to grow. And so did his girth. His heaviest playing weight was just over 24 stone. And the Stamford Bridge publicity machine made those extra pounds pay. Foulke’s presence prompted Chelsea to become the first club to provide ball boys – it was a great visual joke since they were generally two tiny urchins cowering behind the goal. Sometimes Foulke would tuck one under his arm to amuse the crowd. There were laughs-a-plenty with ‘Little Willie’ on the prowl.

But every reign must come to an end. His stay in the capital was cut short by domestic considerations. In 1896 Foulke had married Beatrice Duff, a Blackwell girl. They moved to Sheffield in 1899. And that always remained ‘home’. In April 1906 London’s favourite goalkeeper left ‘The Pensioners’ for ‘The Bantams’, when he signed for Second Division Bradford City.

Foulke’s home debut at Valley Parade added 3,000 to the ‘gate’. But the very next season proved his last. At 32 his form was beginning to wane. Words like ‘fumble’ and ‘bungle’ crept into the match reports. And there were injuries. His last competitive match was against Gainsborough Trinity away. ‘The Leviathan’ conceded four times in the first 30 minutes as Trinity won 4-1.

It was the end of a remarkable career. Now Foulke faced that terrible dilemma common to so many footballers. What to do next? Much rubbish has been aired about his ‘afterlife’, not least that he ended up scraping together pennies as star attraction in a ‘Beat the Goalkeeper’ sideshow on Blackpool front. That was a myth created by the press. In fact he did it for a solitary afternoon by way of a bit of fun.

The definitive account is supplied by Graham Phythian in Colossus, his highly-entertaining biography of Foulke. The family always remained in Sheffield. For a couple of years after retiring from football, Foulke ran The Duke public house. He and his wife then took a corner shop. But the final whistle sounded unexpectedly – and far too early.

On 29 April 1916 Foulke watched Sheffield United play Grimsby Town at Bramall Lane. He fell unexpectedly ill the same weekend and died on 1 May aged only 42. The death certificate cited ‘Cirrhosis’. The ‘Blackwell Giant’ is buried with his wife Beatrice in Sheffield’s Burngreave Cemetery.

Colossus:the true story of William Foulke by Graham Phythian is published by Tempus Publishing Ltd.

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