{{Short description|English football club chairman (1882–1950)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Infobox person | name = Will Cearns | image = | caption = | birth_name = William John Cearns | birth_date = {{birth date text|13 March 1882}} | birth_place = West Ham, England<ref>{{cite web|title=West Ham United Chairman 1935-1992 'The Cearns Family Era'|url=https://www.westhamtillidie.com/posts/west-ham-united-chairman-1935-1992-the-cearns-family-er|publisher=West Ham Till I Die|date=5 March 2014|accessdate=7 May 2024}}</ref> | death_date = {{Death date and age|1950|2|19|1882|3|13|df=y}} | death_place = Wanstead, London | occupation = Chairman, West Ham United<br />Managing Director, Wimbledon Stadium | parents = | website = }} '''William John Cearns'''<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.freebmd.org.uk/cgi/information.pl?r=68578222:6744&d=bmd_1474873875|title=Entry Information|publisher=Free BMD}}</ref> (1882 – 19 February 1950)<ref>{{cite news |title=Dog Track Chairman dies |work=Essex Newsman |date=21 February 1950 |accessdate=19 January 2015 |url=http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000531/19500221/030/0004| via = British Newspaper Archive|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=All results for William Cearns|url=http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?gl=ROOT_CATEGORY&rank=1&new=1&so=3&MSAV=1&msT=1&gss=ms_r_f-2_s&gsfn=William&gsln=Cearns&msbdy=1879&msbpn__ftp=Canada&msddy=&msdpn__ftp=&cpxt=0&catBucket=p&uidh=000&cp=0|publisher=Search-ancestry.com|accessdate=23 January 2013}}</ref> was a chairman of English football club West Ham United and managing director of Wimbledon Stadium.
== Early life == Cearns worked at the famous market in Smithfield, London, aged 14 before studying book-keeping at the West Ham Technical Institute.<ref name=DH>{{cite news |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000681/19500220/062/0003 |title=Bill made a million on the dogs |work=Daily Herald |date=3 August 1992 |via=British Newspaper Archive|url-access=subscription |access-date=9 May 2024}}</ref>
== Football == Cearns was a member of a family which had been associated with West Ham since its 1900 foundation. His father, James "Jimmy" William Y. Cearns, worked for the Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Company and was on the first committee when a works team was formed in 1895. He was then one of the inaugural directors when the team went professional and became West Ham United in 1900. He remained a director until he died in 1934. Will was chairman from 1935 until his death in 1950.<ref>{{cite book|last=Lyall|first=John|title=Just Like My Dreams|year=1989|publisher=Penguin Books|location=Harmondsworth|isbn=0-14-013193-0|pages=44–45}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=West Ham United|url=http://www.cearnsbooks.co.uk/page10.html|publisher=www.cearnsbooks.co.uk|accessdate=21 January 2013|archive-date=24 December 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131224115616/http://www.cearnsbooks.co.uk/page10.html|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name=ww1>{{cite news|last=Atwal|first=June|title=WW1 memoir gives window on history|url=http://www.newhamrecorder.co.uk/news/ww1_memoir_gives_window_on_history_1_930457|accessdate=21 January 2013|newspaper=www.newhamrecorder.co.uk|date=27 June 2011|archive-date=24 December 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131224094310/http://www.newhamrecorder.co.uk/news/ww1_memoir_gives_window_on_history_1_930457|url-status=dead}}</ref>
Known as "''the Cockney millionaire''", Cearns was involved in the construction industry and was responsible for the first underground car park in the country. He was also prominent in funding the construction of West Ham's Boleyn Ground, (building the main grandstand)<ref name=DH/> and a swimming pool in Wanstead High School.<ref name="Cockney millionaire">{{cite news|last=Porter|first=Tom|title=WANSTEAD: Oldest Hammers fan dies aged 92|url=http://www.thisislocallondon.co.uk/whereilive/localheadlines/9481842.WANSTEAD__Oldest_Hammers_fan_dies_aged_92/|accessdate=23 January 2013|newspaper=www.thisislocallondon.co.uk|date=19 January 2012}}</ref>
== Greyhound racing == Cearns was one of the most significant figures in the early history of greyhound racing.<ref name=DH/> In 1928 the South London Greyhound Racecourses Ltd began construction on Wimbledon Stadium. However financial difficulties halted the project until a consortium headed by Cearns whose firm had been responsible for the construction of the stadium stepped in with sufficient funds to save the project.<ref>{{cite book|last=Genders|first=Roy|title=The Encyclopedia of Greyhound Racing, page 40|year=1981|publisher=Pelham Books Ltd|isbn=07207-1106-1}}</ref> He was the managing director at Southend Stadium<ref>{{cite web|url=http://greyhoundstar.co.uk/remember-september-3-2/|title=Remember When - September 1948|date=19 September 2018 |publisher=Greyhound Star}}</ref> and became the managing director at Wimbledon Stadium until his death in 1950.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://find.galegroup.com/ttda/infomark.do?&source=gale&prodId=TTDA&userGroupName=oxfshlib&tabID=T003&docPage=article&searchType=BasicSearchForm&docId=CS69290580&type=multipage&contentSet=LTO&version=1.0|title="Saturday's Results." Times [London, England] 20 Feb. 1950|work=The Times}}</ref> His son John took over the position and became chairman of the Greyhound Racing Association.
Cearns' achievements were remembered with a race inaugurated in 1950 at Wimbledon called the WJ Cearns Memorial Invitation.<ref>{{cite news|title=W. J. Cearns Memorial Race, Thursday 23 March, no 8, vol 5|year=1950|newspaper=Greyhound Owner and Breeder}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}} {{West Ham United F.C. chairmen}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cearns, Will}} Category:1882 births Category:1950 deaths Category:People from West Ham Category:West Ham United F.C. directors and chairmen Category:English football chairmen and investors Category:People in greyhound racing Category:20th-century English businesspeople