Bill Perry

Perry, an outside-left, signed for Blackpool in 1949 after being recommended to the club by scout Billy Butler, who coached him at Johannesburg Rangers. Perry made his league debut for Blackpool on 18 March 1950, in a win at Manchester United. The following season, his FA Cup semi-final replay goal against Birmingham City helped put Blackpool into the Final against Newcastle United. Perry's most notable achievement was scoring the injury-time winner in the 1953 FA Cup Final against Bolton Wanderers, cementing a comeback from 1–3 to 4–3 thanks to an earlier Stan Mortensen hat-trick. As in 1951, his semi-final goal, this time against Tottenham Hotspur, sent Blackpool on their way to Wembley. During the 1955–56 season, Perry scored twenty goals (a record for a winger) (including a hat-trick in the first of two West Lancashire derbies in the space of twenty-four hours) to help Blackpool to their highest-ever league position of runners-up in the First Division. A cartilage operation virtually ended Perry's playing career, and after being in and out of the side, he was transfer-listed in the summer of 1962. Southport came in for his services, where he played 26 games from August 1962 until May 1963 when he joined Hereford United. He remained at Edgar Street for just the one season and made a total of 29 appearances for Hereford during his time there. Perry left Hereford at the end of the 1963–64 season and had a short spell in Australia before retiring with Holyhead Town. He…

Perry made three appearances for England, scoring two goals.

Blackpool

FA Cup: 1952–53; runner-up: 1950–51