Billy Beats

Billy Beats
Beats as a Bristol Rovers player in 1905.
Personal information
Full name William Edwin Beats
Date of birth (1871-11-13)13 November 1871
Place of birth Wolstanton, Staffordshire, England
Date of death 13 April 1936(1936-04-13) (aged 64)
Place of death Reading, Berkshire, England
Height 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m)
Position(s) Centre-forward
Youth career
Port Hill Victoria
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1891–1895 Burslem Port Vale 77 (25)
1895–1903 Wolverhampton Wanderers 199 (67)
1903–1906 Bristol Rovers 94 (44)
1906–1907 Burslem Port Vale 33 (13)
1907–1911 Reading
Total 403+ (149+)
International career
1901–1902 England 2 (0)
Football League 5 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

William Edwin Beats (13 November 1871 – 13 April 1936) was an England international footballer. A centre-forward, he scored 150 goals in 403 league games in a 16-year career from 1891 to 1907.

He began his career with Burslem Port Vale in 1891 and played in the inaugural season of the Second Division. He was sold on to Wolverhampton Wanderers for £80 in June 1895 and went on to pick up an FA Cup runners-up medal after playing in the 1896 FA Cup final. Whilst with the club, he won two England caps. He moved on to Bristol Rovers in 1903 and helped the club to the Southern League title in 1904–05. He returned to Port Vale in August 1906 before joining Reading the following year.