Wilfred Threlfall (15 October 1906 – 13 February 1988) was an English professional footballer who played in the Football League for Birmingham and Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic.[3]
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Wilfred Threlfall | ||
| Date of birth | 18 October 1906 | ||
| Place of birth | Morecambe, Lancashire, England | ||
| Date of death | 13 February 1988 (aged 81) | ||
| Place of death | Morecambe, Lancashire, England[1] | ||
| Height | 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)[2] | ||
| Position(s) | Outside left | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| Morecambe | |||
| 1926–1927 | Sunderland | 0 | (0) |
| 1927–1928 | Birmingham | 5 | (0) |
| 1928–1929 | Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic | 3 | (0) |
| 1929–19?? | Morecambe | ||
| Lancaster Town | |||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Threlfall was born in Morecambe, Lancashire, the son of fishmonger Richard Threlfall and Alice Johnson Threlfall.[4] The Threfall family originated from Lancashire and took their surname from a former manor known as Trelefelt or Threlfield.[5][6] Wilf Threlfall had an uncle of the same name from Morecambe who joined the Rochdale Hornets F.C. as a full back in 1906.[7]
He played for Morecambe F.C. before joining Sunderland, but moved on to fellow First Division club Birmingham in July 1927 without having played for Sunderland's first team,[8] even though he had been highly impressive in training. The Derby Daily Telegraph reported in 1926:
It will be rather surprising if Sunderland overlook the claims of Billy Ellis and George Death for their outside left position, but the prospects are that a newcomer in Wilfred Threlfall will have done duty this afternoon. Wilf is a youngster who did extremely well with the Morecambe club last season, and was signed up by the Roker Park club as a soon as the old campaign ended. His form in trial matches has been startling.[9]
Threlfall made his debut in a 1–0 defeat at Tottenham Hotspur on the opening day of the 1927–28 season, and he and Arthur Johnson shared the outside left position for the next couple of months.[10] In November 1927, Birmingham signed Billy Ellis, the same winger who had kept Threlfall out of the Sunderland team,[8] and both Threlfall and Johnson moved on at the end of the season without playing again.[10] After only three appearances for Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic in the Third Division South, Threlfall returned home to non-league football with Morecambe and later with Lancaster Town.[3]