Harry Leese
 Leese in a Port Vale team photo. | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Harold Leese[1] | ||
| Date of birth | 1886[1] | ||
| Place of birth | Goldenhill, Staffordshire, England[1] | ||
| Playing position | Full-back / Half-back | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Smallthorne | |||
| Goldenhill Villa | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1906 | Stoke | 0 | (0) |
| 1907 | Bradford City | 1 | (0) |
| 1909–1913 | Stoke | 109 | (28) |
| 1913–1919 | Port Vale | 37 | (4) |
| Crewe Alexandra | |||
| Goldenhill Wanderers | |||
| Total | 146+ | (32+) | |
|
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. | |||
Harold "Harry" Leese (born 1886; date of death unknown) was an English footballer who played for Bradford City, Crewe Alexandra, Port Vale and Stoke.[1] He helped Stoke to win two minor league titles.
Playing career
Leese was born in Staffordshire and played non-league football with local sides Smallthorne and Goldenhill Villa, before he was signed up to league club Stoke. He had a spell with Bradford City, before returning to Stoke in 1909. He scored 19 goals in 50 appearances in the 1909–10 season, and helped the club to win the Southern League Division Two A. He scored nine goals in 53 matches in the 1910–11 season, as the "Potters" won the Birmingham & District League title and finished second in the Southern League Division Two. He scored once in 14 games in the 1911–12 season, and featured six times in the 1912–13 campaign before departing the Victoria Ground. He moved to local rivals Port Vale in May 1913.[2] He played regular football between September and December 1914, but then left to help his country fight World War II.[2] He made two appearances whilst on leave, returning permanently upon his demobilization in April 1919. He left at the end of the 1918–19 campaign as he was unable to agree terms with the club, and so was not a part of the club when it gained re-election to the Football League in October 1919.[2] Instead he joined nearby Crewe Alexandra, and later played for Goldenhill Wanderers.[2]
Statistics
- Sourced from Harry Leese profile at the English National Football Archive (subscription required)
| Club | Season | Division | League | FA Cup | Total | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | |||
| Bradford City | 1908–09 | First Division | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Stoke | 1909–10 | Birmingham & District League | 40 | 18 | 6 | 1 | 46 | 19 |
| 1910–11 | Birmingham & District League | 50 | 9 | 3 | 0 | 53 | 9 | |
| 1911–12 | Southern League Division One | 14 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 1 | |
| 1912–13 | Southern League Division One | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 0 | |
| Total | 109 | 28 | 10 | 1 | 119 | 29 | ||
| Port Vale | 1913–14 | Central League | 22 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 24 | 0 |
| 1913–14 | Central League | 15 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 18 | 4 | |
| Total | 37 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 42 | 4 | ||
Honours
- with Stoke
- Southern Football League Division Two A champion: 1909–10
- Southern Football League Division Two runner-up: 1910–11
- Birmingham & District League champion: 1910–11