Players - Harry Chambers

Harry Chambers
Birthdate: 17 November 1896
Birthplace: Willington Quay, England
Date of death: 29 June 1949
Other clubs: Willington United Methodists (1912-13), North Shields Athletic (1913-15); Belfast Distillery, Sunderland Albion Glentoran (wartime guest), West Bromwich Albion (1928-29), Wellington (1929), Oakengates Town (1929-33), Hereford United (1933), Oakengates Town (2 / 1933-48)
Signed from: Unafilliated
Signed for LFC: April 1915
International debut: 14.03.1921 vs. Wales
International caps: 8/5 - 20.10.1923
Liverpool debut: 30.08.1919
Last appearance: 07.03.1928
Debut goal: 30.08.1919
Last goal: 14.01.1928
Contract expiry: 08.03.1928
Win ratio: 44.54% W:151 D:85 L:103
Games/goals ratio: 2.25
Honours: League Championship 1921/22, 1922/23
Wartime games/goals: 2 / 0
League games / goals: 310 / 135
Total games / goals: 339 / 151

Player Profile

Tom Watson liked the look of the bowlegged, pigeon-toed and ever-smiling Northern boy who knocked on his door in 1915. Henry "Harry" Chambers turned out to be the last player Watson ever signed for Liverpool before he passed away on 6 May 1915. Chambers only played a couple of reserve games for Liverpool before League football was suspended due to World War I. He became a soldier but was soon invalided out of the Army and while convalescing in Ulster he guested for Belfast Distillery and Glentoran. Chambers had a lethal left foot and a brilliant football brain and was a key member of the Liverpool team that won the First Division in successive seasons from 1922-1923, scoring 41 goals in 71 matches. Chambers was the club's top-scorer for four successive seasons from 1919/20 to 1922/23. He only scored seven goals in the 1924/25 season after being out with injury for the first two months of the campaign.

"Smiler" played eight internationals for England scoring five goals from his debut on 14 March 1921 in a British Home Championship game against Wales in Cardiff until his last selection on 20 October 1923 against the Irish at Windsor Park in Belfast. His debut goal came in a friendly against Belgium on 21 May 1921 in Brussels. He scored England's both goals in a 2-0 win over Ireland on 21 October 1922. His second was England's 400th goal. He scored his fourth and fifth final goal against Wales and Belgium in March 1923. Liverpool fans were shocked to hear in March 1926 that Chambers wanted to leave the club and had been placed on the transfer list. This was described no less than the “biggest noise in the football world.” Chambers was the darling of the supporters due to his cheerfulness, which rubbed off on everybody around him. He had scored nine goals in the 1925/26 season but since netting a hat-trick against Newcastle on Christmas Day had only scored once in two-and-a-half months. Thankfully Chambers found his scoring instincts again, netting seven goals in the remaining eleven games of the season and was the top-scorer of the team the following season by scoring 21 goals in 46 games. 

After playing nine games without getting on the scoresheet in his final season, 1927/28, Chambers was knocked down by a car whilst riding a bicycle. He later failed to recover damages for the incident in court. Chambers said through the accident he had lost his form and failed to win back his place in the Liverpool team. A doctor said he could not discover anything physically wrong with Chambers and that his loss of form might be due to anxiety over the result of the court case. After an absence of two months from the first team Chambers returned, adding four goals taking his total for the club past the 150 mark before he was transferred in March 1928 to West Bromwich Albion who had just been relegated from the First Division. Chambers was by that time aged 32 and maybe had slowed down a bit, but he was still very adept at reading the game and was reverted to centre-half with resounding success. Chambers joined Hereford United from Oakengates Town in the Birmingham League in January 1933. He played a total of 18 times for Hereford during 1932/33 before returning to Oakengates the following season, playing for the club until he was 51! He passed away all too soon on 29 June 1949, aged 52.
Appearances per season
Please note

Many thanks to Ron Parrott, Hereford United Club Historian, for giving accurate info regarding Harry's time at Hereford and Oakengates.

Season League FA LC Europe Other Total
Totals 310 28 0 0 1 339
1919-1920 34 0 0 0 0 34
1920-1921 40 3 0 0 0 43
1921-1922 32 3 0 0 1 36
1922-1923 39 4 0 0 0 43
1923-1924 30 5 0 0 0 35
1924-1925 27 4 0 0 0 31
1925-1926 42 3 0 0 0 45
1926-1927 42 4 0 0 0 46
1927-1928 24 2 0 0 0 26
A more detailed look at the player's appearances
Apps Minutes Opponent
20 1800 Arsenal
19 1710 Sunderland
18 1620 Newcastle United
17 1530 Aston Villa
17 1530 Sheffield United
17 1530 WBA
15 1350 Burnley
15 1350 Huddersfield Town
14 1260 Bolton Wanderers
13 1170 Everton
13 1170 Tottenham
13 1170 Manchester City
12 1080 Birmingham City
11 990 Preston North End
11 990 Blackburn Rovers
11 990 Manchester United
11 990 Cardiff City
9 810 West Ham United
8 720 Oldham Athletic
7 630 Bradford City
7 630 Bury
7 630 Derby
6 540 Middlesbrough
6 540 Leeds United
6 540 Chelsea
5 450 Notts County
5 450 Southampton
4 360 Nottingham Forest
4 360 Sheffield Wednesday
4 360 Leicester City
4 360 Bradford Park Avenue
2 180 Bournemouth
2 180 Stoke City
1 90 Portsmouth
1 90 Bristol City
1 90 Southport
1 90 Fulham
1 90 Wolves
1 90 Darlington
Total Venue
172 Away
166 Home
1 Neutral
Total Competition
310 League
28 FA Cup
1 Charity Shield
Total W D L Win % Manager
193 76 49 68 39.4% Matt McQueen
113 58 30 25 51.3% David Ashworth
18 7 2 9 38.9% George Patterson
14 10 4 0 71.4% Caretaker Manager
1 0 0 1 0% George Patterson (2nd term)
Goals per season
Please note

Many thanks to Ron Parrott, Hereford United Club Historian, for giving accurate info regarding Harry's time at Hereford and Oakengates.

Season League FA LC Europe Other Total
Totals 135 16 0 0 0 151
1919-1920 15 0 0 0 0 15
1920-1921 22 2 0 0 0 24
1921-1922 19 2 0 0 0 21
1922-1923 22 3 0 0 0 25
1923-1924 13 4 0 0 0 17
1924-1925 7 0 0 0 0 7
1925-1926 17 0 0 0 0 17
1926-1927 17 4 0 0 0 21
1927-1928 3 1 0 0 0 4
A more detailed look at the player's goalscoring
Wartime Appearances / Goals
Season Appearances Goals
1918-1919 2 0
Milestone Appearances
# Date Against Stadium Competition
1 30.08.1919 Bradford City Valley Parade League
50 27.11.1920 Newcastle United Anfield League
100 25.02.1922 Arsenal Anfield League
150 31.03.1923 Birmingham St Andrews League
200 15.12.1924 Cardiff City Ninian Park League
250 30.01.1926 Fulham Craven Cottage FA Cup
300 23.02.1927 Leeds United Elland Road League
Milestone Goals
# Minute Date Against Stadium Competition
1 0 30.08.1919 Bradford City Valley Parade League
50 42 14.01.1922 Bradford City Anfield League
100 78 01.03.1924 Arsenal Highbury League
150 23 31.12.1927 Sheffield United Anfield League
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Scrapbook
Derby Day at Anfield (sketch) - 7 October 1922
Derby Day at Anfield (sketch) - 7 October 1922
Harry Chambers and his hymn of eight (sketch) - October 1934
Harry Chambers and his hymn of eight (sketch) - October 1934
Harry Chambers wants to leave Liverpool - The Echo on 10 March 1926
Harry Chambers wants to leave Liverpool - The Echo on 10 March 1926
Harry Chambers' views on training in the Echo in October 1928
Harry Chambers' views on training in the Echo in October 1928
Liverpool's footballers in training by the sea - 20 January 1926
Liverpool's footballers in training by the sea - 20 January 1926
Other Clubs
Club Season Club rank League apps League goals Total apps Total goals
Willington United Methodists 1912-1913 N/A N/A N/A N/A
North Shields Athletic 1913-1915 North Eastern League 0 0 0 0
WBA 1927-1928 England Second Division 8 2 8 2
WBA 1928-1929 England Second Division 32 2 38 3
Wellington 1929 Birmingham & District League N/A N/A N/A N/A
Oakengates Town 1929-1933 Birmingham & District League N/A N/A N/A N/A
Hereford 1932-1933 Birmingham & District League 18 0 18 0
Oakengates Town 1933-1948 Birmingham & District League N/A N/A N/A N/A
Total 58 4 64 5