Quick Facts
Biography
Benjamin Ward "Ben" Spilsbury (1 August 1864 – 15 August 1938) was an English international footballer.
He was born at Findern, Derbyshire, son of the Reverend Benjamin Ward.
He made his debut for the international team against Ireland on 28 February 1885. Spilsbury played 3 games for England, and scored 5 goals.
His biggest game for England came in 1886, when he scored four of England's goals in the 6-1 win over Ireland.
Spilsbury was an all-round athlete when he was at Rossall School and later Repton School, where he played football, cricket and athletics. At Repton he was school champion 4 times in long jump, and in 1882 he broke the school record.
After that, he began at Jesus College in Cambridge, and he played football for Cambridge University from 1884 to 1887. In his last year at the university, he was also captain of the team.
After representing Cambridge University and his country, he also played games for Derby County in the years 1884 to 1889. He is best remembered for having scored the first recorded Derby goal in 1884. In total he played eight FA cup games, and scored seven FA cup goals for Derby. He is also recorded as having played one league game, and scoring one goal.
After his playing career was over, he moved to Canada, where he worked as an estate agent. He died at North Vancouver in August 1938 aged 74.
England career
| Cap | Opponent | Date | Place | Result | Goals | Club |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ireland | 28 February 1885 | Manchester | 4-0 | 1 | Cambridge University |
| 2 | Ireland | 13 March 1886 | Belfast | 6-1 | 4 | Cambridge University |
| 3 | Scotland | 27 March 1886 | Glasgow | 1-1 | 0 | Cambridge University |