Born: 20 August 1888

Born in: Wavertree, Liverpool

Died: 1 September 1966

Other clubs: St Helens Recreation, Sandown, Hoylake, Garston Gas Works (1910), Southport Central (1911), Northern Nomads (1911-12), Fluminense (1913–24), Flamengo (guest 1915–16)

Signed from: Unafilliated

Joined Liverpool: May 1912

Debut: 15 Feb 1913

Final appearance: 29 Mar 1913

Debut goal: 01 Mar 1913

Last goal: 01 Mar 1913

Contract until: May 1913

League: Apps / Goals: 4 / 1

All Competitions: Apps / Goals: 4 / 1

Player Profile

Welfare made his debut for the club in a home fixture with Sheffield Wednesday on 15 February 1913 in Bill Lacey's absence and his performance was promising according to the Liverpool Echo: "He resembles Blanthorne in that he is of big height, can head a ball, and has a cramped run. He worked like a “brick” all through the game, and his dash, tired as he was from the three-quarters stage, was ever to be feared. Three times a Wednesday full back tried to clear, and the ball cannoned against Welfare. I like the centre that follows up. Welfare used his weight fairly and with good result, and it was delicious to see him bowl over one of the Wednesday defenders. I was sorry the Northern Nomad amateur didn’t get a goal, for he deserved one. His inward pass and his care for the wings were judicious and timed to the right fraction of a minute. It was his pass that gave Metcalf a chance to equalise." Welfare scored his only goal, also at Anfield, when Derby County were the visitors two weeks later. He played in the next match at Tottenham, but only figured once more in the first team as club legends Lacey and Arthur Goddard were not easily shifted from the wings.

The amateur moved to Rio de Janeiro in August 1913 to work as a geography and mathematics teacher at Ginasio Anglo-Brasileiro, a second branch of a school founded by Charles W Armstrong in 1909 that followed "the example of the best schools in England." The school’s PE teacher, J.A. Quincey-Taylor, happened to be the first-team coach at Fluminense Football Club and he used Welfare's talents to their fullest for his team. It would be twenty more years before a professional league was formed in Brazil and as Welfare was top of the scoring charts Liga Metropolitana challenged his amateur status. A statement from George Patterson, Liverpool's secretary, appeased the Brazilian league authorities. “Mr. Harry Welfare always played for us as an amateur," Patterson wrote. "Prior to joining our club he played for several local teams but always as an amateur and to our knowledge was never a professional. I can trust this will put the matter right.” As well as scoring a plethora of goals Welfare made a valuable coaching contribution for his teammates. Welfare had an immensely successful career at Fluminense, from 1913-1924, winning the Campeanato Carioca, the football league of the state of Rio de Janeiro, three years running from 1917-1919 and scoring no less than 163 goals in 166 games! As an amateur Welfare was not committed to one team and he turned out for Flamengo in a December 1915 - January 1916 tour of Bélem, the capital of Pará, where he scored seven goals in four games. Welfare became Vasco da Gama's coach in 1927 and led the club to victory in Brazil's first professional league, in its second season in 1934. He was considered the best coach in the country during his ten-year spell at Vasco. Despite switching allegiances in Rio, Welfare is remembered as a giant in Fluminense's colourful history. Welfare passed away in Angra dos Reis, Brazil on 1 September 1966.