Beadles had already experienced hardship and distinguished himself in wartime before becoming a Liverpool footballer. Born in Llanllwchaiarn, near Newtown, he left school at twelve because his family needed the income and went to work at Pryce Jones’s Welsh Warehouse. In August 1914, still only sixteen, he enlisted in the 7th Battalion of the Royal Welch Fusiliers. Initially a bugle boy, he subsequently served at Gallipoli, where his bravery earned him the Serbian Gold Medal for Gallantry. According to the regimental museum’s account, he rescued a wounded Serbian observer officer from no man’s land. During the evacuation he was found unconscious in the sea and taken to Malta to recover, before rejoining his battalion in Palestine. Football also formed part of his army life: his battalion won the British Forces in Egypt Football League Cup in 1919, and his friendship with former Liverpool player George Latham would later influence his career.
After demobilisation, Beadles returned to Newtown and played for his hometown club in 1919/20 before moving to Merseyside. There he represented Grayson’s of Garston, the amateur team associated with a local shipping company. Liverpool signed him and teammate Danny Shone in May 1921. Beadles made his first-team debut in a 1–0 victory over Chelsea on 24 September and scored his first goal against Preston North End a fortnight later. His contribution to Liverpool’s 1921/22 championship was considerable for a player used so sparingly: six goals in eleven league appearances, including the winner at Tottenham and two in the closing-day 4–1 victory at West Bromwich Albion. He also appeared in the Charity Shield, bringing his season’s total to twelve matches. An inside-left, Beadles faced formidable competition for a regular place. His early goals demonstrated his usefulness, but contemporary reporting also revealed the difficulties of adapting to the highest level. Following Liverpool’s defeat at Cardiff in April 1922, the Athletic News considered him too inexperienced to overcome Fred Keenor’s attentions, which in turn restricted the opportunities available to outside-left Fred Hopkin. Liverpool’s exceptional stability left little room for their reserves the following season. Harry Chambers made 39 league appearances and Dick Forshaw played in all 42 fixtures as the championship was retained; Beadles appeared only four times. Two further outings in 1923/24 completed his Liverpool record of eighteen appearances and six goals.
Beadles' move to Cardiff City in August 1924 reunited him with Latham and offered a fresh opportunity to establish himself. His progress brought international recognition, with appearances for Wales against Scotland and England on 14 and 28 February 1925. Between those matches he returned to Merseyside and scored in Cardiff’s 2–1 victory at Everton. The Western Mail’s report praised his industry and intelligence in constructing attacks, and the Liverpool Echo also remarked on the pace he showed since leaving Anfield. Beadles played at inside-left in Cardiff’s first FA Cup final, a 1–0 defeat by Sheffield United at Wembley. His Cardiff career nevertheless proved brief. He moved to Sheffield Wednesday in November 1925, but failed to make a league appearance and joined Southport the following summer.
At Southport Beadles became a leading figure, captaining the side and finishing as its leading scorer in each of his three seasons. His goals also helped produce a memorable FA Cup run in 1926/27. He headed the opening goal in a replay victory at Tranmere Rovers and scored Southport’s second when they defeated First Division Blackburn Rovers 2–0 in the third round. That success earned a visit to Anfield, but injury denied Beadles the chance to face his former club as Liverpool won 3–1. His Southport league record amounted to 61 goals in 92 appearances, a much more sustained demonstration of the scoring ability Liverpool had seen only intermittently. Persistent knee trouble brought Beadles' Football League career to an end, and in July 1929 he moved to Dundalk as a player-coach. After leaving football he returned to Merseyside, spending a period as a prison officer at Walton before entering the licensed trade. He managed the Hillside hotel in Huyton from 1939 and later ran the Cannon pub near Anfield. He eventually settled in the Mold area, where he died after a long illness on 29 August 1958, aged sixty.
