Joe Little
{{short description|English footballer}}
{{Similar names|Joseph Little (disambiguation){{!}}Joseph Little}}
{{use British English|date=August 2015}}
{{use dmy dates|date=August 2015}}
{{Infobox football biography
|name = Joe Little
|image_size =
|caption =
|birth_date = {{birth date|1902|1|25|df=y}}
|birth_place = Leeds, England
|death_date = 1965
|death_place =
|height =
|position = Outside left / left half
|youthyears1 = |youthclubs1 =
|years1 = |clubs1 = Castleford Town |caps1 = |goals1 =
|years2 = 1920–1925 |clubs2 = Plymouth Argyle |caps2 = 7 |goals2 = 0
|years3 = 1925–1927 |clubs3 = Darlington |caps3 = 62 |goals3 = 13
|years4 = 1927–1929 |clubs4 = Bradford Park Avenue |caps4 = 2 |goals4 = 1
|years5 = 1929–1930 |clubs5 = Rotherham United |caps5 = 24 |goals5 = 1
}}
Joseph Little (25 January 1902 – 1965) was an English footballer who made 95 appearances in the Football League playing at outside left or left half for Plymouth Argyle, Darlington, Bradford Park Avenue and Rotherham United in the 1920s. He also played non-league football for Castleford Town.{{cite book |last=Joyce |first=Michael |title=Football League Players' Records 1888 to 1939 |publisher=SoccerData |location=Nottingham |page=158 |year=2004 |isbn=978-1-899468-67-6}}
Life and career
Little was born in Leeds, and began his senior football career with Midland League club Castleford Town. Together with teammates Walter Cook and Cecil Eastwood, he transferred to Plymouth Argyle in May 1920, ahead of the club's first season in the newly formed Football League Third Division. The players were allowed to remain with Castleford to play in the remaining rounds of the West Riding Senior Cup;{{cite news |url=http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000687/19200506/272/0014 |title=Castleford Town Club |newspaper=Yorkshire Post |date=6 May 1920 |page=14 |via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription }} they won the semifinal, but lost 3–1 to Huddersfield Town in the final.{{cite news |url=http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000273/19200515/128/0008 |title=West Riding Cup Final. Castleford's plucky fight against Huddersfield Town |newspaper=Yorkshire Evening Post |date=15 May 1920 |page=8 |via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription }}
He made his Football League debut on 8 September for an injury-hit Argyle team at home to Crystal Palace, forming a new left-wing pairing with Billy Kellock; the Daily Express reporter felt their inclusion "did not improve the combination" between the forwards.{{cite news |title=Palace sparkle. Argyle lucky to escape with narrow defeat |newspaper=Daily Express |location=London |date=9 September 1920 |page=6}} Little himself was injured during the match, and did not play again that season. Cartilage problems in both knees restricted him to just seven appearances in four seasons{{cite web |url=http://www.greensonscreen.co.uk/gosdb-players2.asp?pid=492 |title=Joe Little |website=Greens on Screen |access-date=12 August 2015}} – the Derby Daily Telegraph described him as "well known in the South as one of the unluckiest men who ever received a pay packet from the Plymouth Argyle club"{{cite news |url=http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000327/19251107/014/0004 |title=Promotion Points. The Little Quaker |newspaper=Derby Daily Telegraph |date=7 November 1925 |page=4 |via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription }} – and he was made available on a free transfer in 1924.{{cite news |url=http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000329/19240926/006/0002 |title=Plymouth Argyle and promotion. Club confident of success |newspaper=Western Morning News |location=Plymouth |date=26 September 1924 |page=2 |via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription }}
Restored to fitness, Little signed for Second Division club Darlington early in the 1925–26 season.{{cite news |url=http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000332/19250926/055/0003 |title=Shots at Goal |newspaper=Lincolnshire Echo |date=26 September 1925 |page=3 |via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription }} He enjoyed regular football, with 13 goals from 62 league appearances by the end of the following season, when the team were relegated to the third tier. In August 1927 he moved on to Bradford Park Avenue of the Third Division North.{{cite news |url=http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000273/19270813/145/0006 |title=Yorkshire football clubs' prospects for 1927–8 |newspaper=Yorkshire Evening Post |date=13 August 1927 |page=6 |via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription }} He contributed one goal from two appearances as Bradford won the title and promotion to the Second Division. The club re-signed him for the coming season,{{cite news |url=http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000687/19280517/381/0019 |title=Signed for Bradford |newspaper=Yorkshire Post |date=17 May 1928 |page=19 |via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription }} but he appeared only in the reserve team,{{cite news |url=http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000687/19280829/300/0016 |title=Untitled |newspaper=Yorkshire Post |date=29 August 1928 |page=16 |via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription }}
{{cite news |url=http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000687/19281129/378/0017 |title=City reserves routed |newspaper=Yorkshire Post |date=29 November 1928 |page=17 |via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription }} and he moved on to Rotherham United at the end of the 1928–29 season.{{cite news |url=http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000321/19290713/029/0007 |title=Sporting items |newspaper=Nottingham Evening Post |date=13 July 1929 |page=7 |via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription }} He scored on debut for Rotherham, in a 5–4 defeat away to Tranmere Rovers, and played 24 times for the club, initially in his usual position of left-sided forward, and later at left half.{{cite web|url=http://www.themillers.co.uk/staticFiles/6f/12/0,,10360~4719,00.doc |format=DOC |title=A–Z Past Players (Pre-1939) |publisher=Rotherham United F.C. |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120208092519/http://www.themillers.co.uk/staticFiles/6f/12/0%2C%2C10360~4719%2C00.doc |archive-date= 8 February 2012 |url-status=dead }}
References
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Little, Joe}}
Category:Footballers from Leeds
Category:English men's footballers
Category:Men's association football forwards
Category:Men's association football midfielders
Category:Castleford Town F.C. players
Category:Plymouth Argyle F.C. players
Category:Darlington F.C. players
Category:Bradford (Park Avenue) A.F.C. players
Category:Rotherham United F.C. players
Category:Midland Football League players
Category:Date of death missing