{{Short description|Scottish footballer (1895–1968)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=November 2017}} {{Infobox football biography | name = Billy Blyth | image = | fullname = William Naismith Blyth | birth_date = {{birth date|df=y|1895|6|17}} | birth_place = Dalkeith, Scotland | death_date = {{death date and age|df=y|1968|7|1|1895|6|17}}<ref name="FATFWW" /> | death_place = Worthing, England | height = {{height|ft=5|in=8}}<ref>{{cite news |title=First Division prospects. Arsenal |author=The Vagrant |newspaper=Athletic News |location=Manchester |date=22 August 1921 |page=5}}</ref> | position = Left half, inside left | youthyears1 = | youthclubs1 = Wemyss Athletic | years1 = 1913–1914 | clubs1 = Manchester City | caps1 = 0 | goals1 = 0 | years2 = 1914–1929 | clubs2 = Arsenal | caps2 = 314 | goals2 = 45 | years3 = 1929–1931 | clubs3 = Birmingham | caps3 = 21 | goals3 = 4 | totalcaps = 335 | totalgoals = 49 }} '''William Naismith Blyth''' (17 June 1895 – 1 July 1968), generally known as '''Billy Blyth''', was a Scottish footballer.
Born in Dalkeith, Midlothian, Blyth played as a schoolboy for local junior side Wemyss Athletic.<ref name="FATFWW">{{Cite news |url=http://www.footballandthefirstworldwar.org/billy-blyth-arsenal/ |title=Billy Blyth – Arsenal, Football and World War One |work=Football and the First World War |accessdate=24 November 2017 |language=en-US}}</ref> He was briefly on the books of Manchester City before signing for Arsenal in May 1914.<ref name="FATFWW" /> He quickly made his debut for the Gunners, in a Second Division against Huddersfield Town on 21 November 1914, a game that Arsenal lost 3–0. Blyth made 12 appearances in 1914–15 but by then the First World War had broken out, and Blyth duly joined the Royal Army Service Corps, serving in France.<ref name="FATFWW" />
Upon the end of hostilities and the resumption of football in 1919, Blyth returned to Arsenal and immediately became a regular in the newly promoted side. An energetic "midfield dynamo", Blyth usually figured on the left of midfield, as a left half or inside left. He became a mainstay in the side, with over 300 league games in 10 seasons, and became club captain in 1925.<ref name="FATFWW" /> He also played in the 1927 FA Cup Final, Arsenal's first cup final, which they lost 1–0 to Cardiff City. In total, he played 343 matches for Arsenal, scoring 51 goals.
He moved to Birmingham in May 1929, playing his last first-team game in September 1930 before retiring at the end of the 1930–31 season.<ref name="FATFWW" /> Blyth also starred in one of the first football-related films, the 1930 production ''The Great Game''.<ref name="FATFWW" /> After retiring, Blyth moved back to Scotland, and ran a pub in Port Seton.<ref name="FATFWW" /> He died in Worthing, West Sussex, England, in 1968 at the age of 73.<ref name="FATFWW" />
==Honours== ===Player=== '''Arsenal''' *FA Cup runner-up: 1926–27
==References== *{{cite book | last=Harris|first=Jeff|editor-last=Hogg|editor-first=Tony | title=Arsenal Who's Who | publisher=Independent UK Sports | year=1995 | isbn=1-899429-03-4 }} *{{cite book |author=Matthews, Tony |title=Birmingham City: A Complete Record |publisher=Breedon Books |location=Derby |year=1995 |isbn=978-1-85983-010-9}} {{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blyth, Billy}} Category:1895 births Category:1968 deaths Category:Sportspeople from Dalkeith Category:Scottish men's footballers Category:Men's association football midfielders Category:Manchester City F.C. players Category:Arsenal F.C. players Category:Birmingham City F.C. players Category:English Football League players Category:Footballers from Midlothian Category:British Army personnel of World War I Category:Royal Army Service Corps soldiers Category:20th-century English male actors Category:English male film actors Category:20th-century Scottish sportsmen