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Frank Moss was a 5 foot 11 inch English professional footballer who made over 250 appearances as a wing half in the Football League for Aston Villa. He was capped by England at international level and represented the Football League XI.
After beginning his career in local Birmingham football, Moss joined First Division club Aston Villa for a £250 fee in February 1914 and made two appearances late in the 1914–15 season, but he had to wait until after the First World War before he could begin his professional career in earnest.
During the war, Moss guested for Bellis and Morcom, Aston Park Rangers, Smethwick Carriage Works and Bradford City.
He captained the club and was a part of the Villa teams which won the 1919–20 FA Cup and finished runners-up in 1923–24. After a dispute over a testimonial and a ban from the FA, Moss departed Villa Park in January 1929, after making 255 appearances and scoring 9 goals for the club. He finished the 1928–29 season with First Division club Cardiff City.
He joined Bromsgrove Rovers as player-coach in September 1929. Part of his role was to assist in team building. Cardiff retained him on a £500 transfer fee.
Despite his fine performances on the pitch, Moss was not able to build a successful Rovers side and he was transferred to Worcester City on 27 March 1930, where he finished his career.
Moss won five caps for England at international level and represented the Football League XI.
Moss attended Burlington Street School in Aston and as of 1911 was working as a canal boatman. He later married and had four children, two of whom became footballers – Amos and Frank Jr. In November 1915, 15 months after Britains entry into the First World War, Moss enlisted as a private in the Lincolnshire Regiment. He saw action during the Third Battle of Ypres and shrapnel wounds to his left knee saw him sent back to Britain to be a physical training instructor. Moss ended the war with the rank of corporal. A decade after being wounded in the war, Moss declined the shrapnel being removed from his knee at the same time as undergoing a knee cartilage operation relating to his football career. The shrapnel remained in his knee until his death in 1965. In October 1930, whilst still playing for Worcester, he took over the running of the Grosvenor Arms in Worcester. According to a 1939 register, Moss was the licensed victualler of a hostelry in Worcester.
Rovers stats:
Debut: vs Market Harborough, Birmingham Combination, Market Harborough, 28 September 1929, 2-9.
Last game: vs Market Harborough, Birmingham Combination, Victoria Ground, 22 March 1930, 2-4.
Hat-tricks:
vs Walsall LMS, Birmingham Combination, Walsall, 8 February 1930, 3-3.
vs Redditch Town, Birmingham Combination, Red Lane, 15 February 1930, 3-5.
1929/30: 22 appearances, 10 goals
Record as Rovers player coach:
Played 25:Won 8 (32%), Draw 2 (8%), Lost 15 (60%)
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D.O.B:
17/04/1895
Born:
Aston, Birmingham
D.O.D:
15/09/1965
Died:
Worcester
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