Sam Raybould

Raybould was born in Staveley, Derbyshire and played for Poolsbrook United, Staveley Colliery and North Staveley before joining Chesterfield Town on trial. His trial wasn't successful, and he moved to Ilkeston Town from where he joined Derby County in 1894. Despite scoring twice in five games for Derby, Raybould returned to non-league football with Ilkeston Town, subsequently playing for Poolsbrook United, Ilkeston Town (for a third spell) and Bolsover Colliery before joining New Brighton Tower in 1899. He scored ten times in just 13 league games for New Brighton Tower and was signed by manager Tom Watson for Liverpool in January 1900. He made his debut on 13 January 1900 in a 2–0 win over W.B.A at Anfield and scored his first goal for the club a week later on 20 January in the Merseyside derby at Goodison Park a game which saw Everton win 3–1. Originally an outside right, he switched to centre forward at Liverpool and became a highly successful goalscorer. In the 1902–03 season Raybould set a new record of 31 league goals in a single league season. This record stood until 1931 when Gordon Hodgson broke it by scoring 36 goals. In 1903 he, along with John Glover and William Goldie were given a seven-month ban from football for agreeing to 'financial inducements' to sign for Southern League Portsmouth. Portsmouth tried to use lack of regulations of transfers between the leagues to their advantage, but their approach was judged illegal. Raybould was suspended for seven months…

Raybould married Selima Wilkes on 24 December 1897, when he described himself as a miner. Raybould died in 1949.