Brooks Sammy Image 2 Wolverhampton Wanderers 1922

Description

Brierley Hill, Staffordshire born winger Sammy Brooks began his football career with Brierley Hill Corinthians in 1905 and played for Brierley Hill Alliance and Bilston United in 1906 and Cradley Heath in 1909 before joining Second Division Wolverhampton Wanderers in February 1911, making his Football League debut against Bradford Park Avenue that April. He established himself in the Wolves first eleven from January 1912 and finished the 1913-14 season as the club’s top goalscorer with 11 goals, and then he scored a career best 18 goals in the final season before the First World War, 1914-15, when he was the club’s second top goalscorer behind Frank Curtis.

During the War he guested for Birmingham, Port Vale and Coventry City. He won an unofficial cap from his country in a Victory International in October 1919 and also represented The Football League in a 2-1 victory against The Irish League at The Hawthorns in October 1914.

He returned to Molineux after the War, as the club struggled at the foot of the Second Division table in 1919-20 and 1920-21. Despite their poor League form, Wolves put together a series of results in the FA Cup and went on to reach the FA Cup Final. Brooks won a runners up medal in the 1921 FA Cup Final after a 1-0 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur at Stamford Bridge.

Brooks signed for Tottenham Hotspur in the 1922 close season, having scored 53 goals in 246 appearances for Wolves either side of the War. However he struggled to get opportunities at White Hart Lane, and scored once  in only ten First Division appearances in the 1922-23 and 1923-24 campaigns. He joined Southend United in the summer of 1924 and scored twice in 12 appearances during his single season at The Kursaal. He dropped into non league with Kidderminster Harriers in 1925 and played for Cradley Heath the same year and finally Stourbridge in 1926, before retiring in 1927.