{{short description|English footballer}} {{Use dmy dates|date=December 2022}} {{Infobox football biography | name = Bill Pepper | fullname = William George Pepper<ref name="Joyce" /> | birth_date = 1895 | birth_place = Faversham, England | death_date = 25 {{Death year and age|1918|1895|10}}<ref name="CWGC" /> | death_place = north of Baghdad, Ottoman Iraq | position = Goalkeeper | youthyears1 = | youthclubs1 = | years1 = | clubs1 = Sheppey United | caps1 = | goals1 = | years2 = 1913 | clubs2 = Leicester Fosse | caps2 = 1 | goals2 = 0 | years3 = 1913 | clubs3 = Gillingham | caps3 = 1 | goals3 = 0 }}
'''William George Pepper''' (1895 – 25 October 1918) was an English professional footballer who played in the Football League for Leicester Fosse as a goalkeeper.<ref name="Joyce">{{Cite book |last=Joyce |first=Michael |title=Football League Players' Records 1888 to 1939 |publisher=Tony Brown |year=2012 |isbn=978-1905891610 |location=Nottingham |page=229}}</ref>
== Personal life == Pepper enlisted in the Queen's Own (Royal West Kent Regiment) during the First World War.<ref name="LCFC">{{Cite web |title=Leicester Fosse & The First World War: William Pepper |url=https://www.lcfc.com/news/1495099 |access-date=9 December 2022 |website=www.lcfc.com |language=en}}</ref> He spent time with the regiment in India before being deployed to the Middle Eastern theatre in December 1917.<ref name="LCFC" /> Pepper was serving as an acting lance corporal when he was killed in Iraq during the Battle of Sharqat on 25 October 1918.<ref name="LCFC" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=William George Pepper {{!}} Service Record |url=http://www.footballandthefirstworldwar.org/william-pepper-service-record/ |access-date=1 October 2016 |website=Football and the First World War |language=en-US}}</ref> He is commemorated on the Basra Memorial.<ref name="CWGC">{{CWGC|id=1658608|accessdate=1 October 2016}}</ref>
== Career statistics == {| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;" |+ Appearances and goals by club, season and competition ! rowspan="2" |Club ! rowspan="2" |Season ! colspan="3" |League ! colspan="2" |FA Cup ! colspan="2" |Total |- !Division !Apps !Goals !Apps !Goals !Apps !Goals |- |Leicester Fosse |1912–13<ref>{{Cite web |title=Bill Pepper {{!}} Leicester City career stats |url=https://www.foxestalk.co.uk/history/players?pid=924 |access-date=26 May 2017 |website=FoxesHistory}}</ref> |Second Division |1 |0 |0 |0 |1 |0 |- |Gillingham |1913–14<ref name="gillinghamfcresults">{{Cite web |title=Bill Pepper |url=http://gillinghamfcscrapbook.co.uk/DisplayPlayer.php?playername=Pepper%2CBill |access-date=26 May 2017 |website=Gillingham FC Scrapbook}}</ref> |Southern League First Division |1 |0 |0 |0 |1 |0 |- ! colspan="3" |Career total !2 !0 !0 !0 !2 !0 |}
== References == {{Reflist}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pepper, Bill}} Category:1895 births Category:Sportspeople from Faversham Category:English men's footballers Category:Men's association football goalkeepers Category:Sheppey United F.C. players Category:English Football League players Category:British Army personnel of World War I Category:Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment soldiers Category:1918 deaths Category:Leicester City F.C. players Category:Military personnel from Kent Category:Gillingham F.C. players Category:Southern Football League players Category:British military personnel killed in World War I Category:Footballers from Kent Category:20th-century English sportsmen
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