Bert Freeman

Bertram Clewley Freeman (1 October 1885 – 11 August 1955) was an English footballer. He played as a centre forward for clubs Woolwich Arsenal, Everton, Burnley and Wigan Borough. Freeman was one of the most prolific goal-scorers of his time, winning one First Division and two Second Division Golden Boots. He was also capped at the senior level for England.

Career

Early days Freeman was born in Handsworth, which was then in Staffordshire, and attended Gower Street School in Aston, where he started to make a name for himself as a prolific goal-scorer. He ended his schooldays with two games in which he scored seven and nine times respectively. In his three seasons at Arsenal, Freeman scored a total of 24 goals in 49 appearances in league and cup matches.

Everton An Everton director had been sent to watch Freeman play for Arsenal in 1907, and on his return was asked by the board: "Did he score any goals?" The unnamed director apparently reported back: "He scored all four of them, but he did nothing else!" Ernest Edwards, the Liverpool Echo journalist, who had christened Anfield's home end The Spion Kop, convinced the Blues that Freeman was worth taking a chance on and the 22-year-old signed for a fee of £350 in time to make his debut at the end of the 1907–08 season. and played in the remaining four games of the season, scoring once. He soon formed a useful partnership with his former Arsenal teammate Tim Coleman, who had joined Everton a few weeks earlier. During his first full season with Everton he scored 38 goals from 37 appearances, which made him the First Division's top scorer. With Coleman contributing a further 20 goals, Everton finished in the runners-up position, seven points behind the champions, Newcastle United. In the Autumn of 1908, between 10 October and 12 December, Freeman had a run of 10 successive goal-scoring appearances – during which he struck 17 times. Freeman's total of 38 league goals broke the record for the most Football League goals in a season previously held by Liverpool's Sam Raybould (31 in 1902–03) and stood until broken by Ted Harper's 43 goals in 1925–26. He retained his place for the next international against Scotland on 3 April, which England also won 2–0 (both goals from George Wall) as England claimed the championship title. He also played for the Football League against the Irish League in 1909, scoring four goals.

In the 1909–10 season, Freeman was not able to score so freely with 22 league goals as Everton finished in mid-table. They did, however, have a good run in the FA Cup, with Freeman scoring four goals, including two against Coventry City in Round Four, as Everton reached the semi-final where they were put out 3–0 by Barnsley after a replay.

The following season started poorly for Freeman, and by mid-November he had lost his place in the Everton team to George Beare who had recently arrived from Blackpool. Despite an outstanding goals return – 67 goals in 94 appearances – Freeman had always struggled to impress the hierarchy at Everton, and he was allowed to leave in 1911, aged 26, as the Everton directors believed he was past his best,

He made his Burnley debut at home to Wolverhampton Wanderers on 15 April 1911. The following season, he began to repay Haworth's faith in him as the goals came on a regular basis; a 2–1 victory over Wolves on 23 December saw Freeman score his twentieth goal of the season in only the nineteenth game, and he followed this with a hat-trick in a 4–0 defeat of Glossop North End a week later. By the end of March, Freeman's goals had helped Burnley to the top of the table with a seven-point margin over third placed Derby County with five games to play and promotion seemed secured. The absence, however, of winger Dick Lindley contributed to the club only collecting three more points and Burnley missed out on promotion finishing two points behind second place Chelsea. For Freeman, however, there was the satisfaction of finishing as the league's top scorer with 32 goals from 33 appearances He scored again in the next match, a 2–0 victory against Wales on 11 March and retained his place for the final match against Scotland on 23 March which ended 1–1, thus enabling England and Scotland to share the title.

In 1912–13, Freeman at first struggled to maintain his form of the previous season, but in a run of ten straight League victories between November 1912 and January 1913 Freeman scored fifteen goals, representing an emphatic return to form. Haworth was by now building a team not just to gain promotion but to secure the club's place in the top division and, having already recruited Tommy Boyle from Barnsley the previous year to strengthen the defense, he signed winger Eddie Mosscrop in September 1912, followed by the signing of three players from Gainsborough Trinity in February (following an F.A. Cup tie between the two clubs), including goalkeeper Ronnie Sewell. These players were to form the core of the Burnley side over the next few years, and all were future England internationals. By mid-February, Burnley were top of the table and Freeman scored twice to defeat First Division Middlesbrough in the third round of the cup to set up a tie at local rivals Blackburn Rovers, where a single goal from Boyle saw them through to a semi-final against Sunderland. A 0–0 draw on 29 March at Bramall Lane preceded a replay at St Andrew's which saw Burnley lose 3–2. The FA Cup run had distracted Burnley from the league, and they had slipped into second place. They were able to hold onto the runners-up position and Freeman was again the league's top scorer with 31 goals from 37 appearances A fierce shot on 58 minutes by Freeman gave Burnley "a narrow victory in an otherwise undistinguished match in which two teams with low positions in the League slogged it out in midfield, neither set of forwards being capable of mounting a sustained attack". Despite the lack of quality in the final, Burnley deserved the plaudits having been the first team to overcome five First Division clubs to take the trophy.

Freeman started the 1914–15 season in prolific early season form as he scored ten goals in the first eleven league games. By the end of the year, however, Freeman's goalscoring touch had deserted him and manager John Haworth even tried playing him the wing in an unsuccessful attempt to rekindle some kind of form. A late season run of good results saw the Clarets claim a final position of fourth in the table in which only three points separated the top seven teams, with Everton claiming the title.

By now, league football had been interrupted by the First World War, but Freeman was to return to Turf Moor for two further seasons after the cessation of hostilities. Although only managing 12 goals in the first post-war season, Freeman was still Burnley's top goal-scorer for the season, as Burnley finished as runners-up in the First Division, nine points behind champions West Bromwich Albion. On 21 February 1920, Freeman became the first Burnley player to score 100 League goals, in a 2–0 win at Derby County. Freeman's final goal for Burnley came on 20 March in a 2–1 victory against Sunderland.

The following season, he played in the first three matches, all of which ended in defeats, and he lost his place to Joe Anderson. He then had to sit and watch as none of the next thirty games were lost and his league career at Burnley was over. As a result, he did not receive a Championship medal despite the contributions that he had made to Burnley's success in his time with the club. He made one final appearance as a replacement for Anderson in a 3–0 FA Cup defeat at Hull City on 19 February 1921, and he joined Wigan Borough at the end of the season.

In his ten years with Burnley, he scored a total of 115 goals in 189 appearances, having helped the club achieve topflight promotion and win the only FA Cup in its history. Shortly before he left Turf Moor, a local newspaper published this tribute: He subsequently played for Kettering Town and Kidderminster Harriers before retiring from football.

Bert Freeman died in August 1955, aged 69. His brother, Walter was also a footballer, playing for Aston Villa, Birmingham and Fulham.

Career statistics

Honours Burnley British Home Championship: 1909, 1912

Individual First Division Golden Boot: 1909 Second Division Golden Boot: 1912 & 1913