Description
Bill Bidmead was a full back, born in West Bromwich in December 1882. Bill’s professional football career started at Walsall in 1900-01 but he didn’t make their first team and went to play for Stourbridge in 1901 and Brierley Hill Alliance in 1902. He then joined Small Heath, now Birmingham City, and made his debut for them at Bury in the First Division in October 1903. That was his only first team appearance for 2 and a half years, until he played 2 games in March and April 1906 at Arsenal and Nottingham Forest, both defeats away from home. He then moved to Leyton in the summer of 1906, (not to be confused with Leyton Orient), also an established professional East London team, who were a Southern League club at the time making 58 appearances for them before moving to Grimsby Town in May 1908. He only played once for Grimsby in a 3-0 win over Stockport County in September 1908 in the Second Division, before returning to the Midlands to re-join Brierley Hill Alliance in 1909.