Hole Billy Image 2 Swansea Town 1924

Description

Swansea born outside right Billy Hole began his football career with junior club Hillside in 1914 before the First World War, and joined his hometown professional club Swansea Town after the War in 1919 when they were still playing Southern League football, and when they joined the new Third Division at the start of the next season, he played in their inaugural Football League match at Portsmouth in August 1920. He was awarded his first Wales international cap against Ireland at The Vetch Field on 9th April 1921, scoring the first goal in a 2-1 victory, his only goal for his country, and played his last match of 9 caps for Wales on 17th November 1928 against England.

In 1922-23 he was a near ever present for The Swans missing only one match, scoring a career best 15 goals, and he similarly missed only one match in their 1926-27 campaign. He played twelve seasons at The Vetch Field, being a member of their Third Division (South) Championship winning team of 1925, scoring 44 goals in 378 appearances for The Swans, his last match coming at Bradford Park Avenue in April 1931, before he joined non league Llanelly in the 1931 close season ahead of his eventual retirement.

His sons were also professional footballers. Alan made 25 appearances for Swansea in the 1950’s; Barrie featured almost 100 times for the club in the early 1970’s having previously played for Cardiff, Blackburn and Aston Villa, and played 30 times for Wales. Another son, Colin, was on Swansea’s books but never made a first team appearance.