Biography
Goalkeeper Edward Roughley, often called Ed, was born in Bickerstaffe,a rural mining village near Ormskirk in Lancashire. He trained as a watchmaker while playing local football for Prescot in 1902, joining Lancashire Combination side St Helens Recreational a year later. In 1905 the Hull City scouts had identified Roughley’s promise as an agile and dominant goalkeeper and he joined the Tigers in May 1906. During his first two seasons with the Tigers Edward played only 10 first team games as he was reserve for City’s first choice goalkeeper Martin Spendiff.
When Spendiff moved to Bradford City in April 1908 Roughley was elevated to first choice netminder and he missed only five first team fixtures over the next four seasons. City came closest to promotion to the First Division in May 1910 with Roughley in goal, but after that narrow failure City began to restructure their team. At the start of the 1912/13 season rival keeper Nicholson Hendry was preferred and Roughley was not to return to the Hull City first team. He remained on the Tigers’ books for a further two seasons, serving the City Reserves side before leaving in the 1914 close season.
In May 1914 Roughley joined Midland League side Chesterfield Town but spent only one season at Saltergate before the outbreak of World War One. After the war Roughley joined Rugby Town in November 1919, where he spent three seasons and playing into his 40s before ending his career at Great Heath.
By 1939 Roughley was widowed and working in an engineering factory in Coventry. He later returned to Skelmersdale, near his birthplace, where he died in May 1948.
Details
Nationality: England
Date/Place of Birth: 30 July 1879, Bickerstaffe
Hull City First Game: 1 April 1907, Burslem Port Vale H (Division Two), 27 years, 245 days old
Hull City Final Game: 27 April 1912, Bristol City A (Division Two), 32 years, 272 days old
Clubs
Prescot (1902-1903), St Helens Receational (1903-1906), Hull City (1906-1914), Chesterfield Town (1914-1915), Rugby Town (1919-1922), Great Heath (1922-1923)
Hull City Record
Career: 166 apps, 0 goals
Edward Roughley| Season | LGE App | LGE Gls | FAC App | FAC Gls | FLC App | FLC Gls | EUR App | EUR Gls | OTH App | OTH Gls |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1906/07 | 1 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 1907/08 | 9 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 1908/09 | 35 | 0 | 2 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 1909/10 | 38 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 1910/11 | 38 | 0 | 4 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 1911/12 | 36 | 0 | 2 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 1912/13 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 1913/14 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |