William George Marks was an English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 association football player, who played as a goalkeeper.

Born in Figheldean

Figheldean

Figheldean is a village and civil parish on the River Avon north of Amesbury in Wiltshire.Centred on the village, the parish of Figheldean extends eastwards towards Tidworth as far as Devil's Ditch and westwards beyond Larkhill towards Shrewton as far as Robin Hood's Ball. The parish includes...

, Wiltshire

Wiltshire

Wiltshire is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset, Somerset, Hampshire, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire. It contains the unitary authority of Swindon and covers...

, Marks started his career at local club Salisbury Corinthians before joining Arsenal

Arsenal F.C.

Arsenal Football Club is a professional English Premier League football club based in North London. One of the most successful clubs in English football, it has won 13 First Division and Premier League titles and 10 FA Cups...

 as an amateur in March 1936; he turned professional two months later. Marks spent two years on loan at Arsenal's nursery club Margate

Margate F.C.

Margate Football Club is an English football team based in the seaside resort of Margate, Kent, currently playing in the Isthmian League Premier Division. The club was known for a number of years during the 1980s as Thanet United....

 before returning in May 1938. He played twice for Arsenal before the outbreak of war, but served mainly as understudy to George Swindin

George Swindin

George Hedley Swindin was an English football player and manager.-Playing career:A goalkeeper, Swindin was born in Campsall, Doncaster, Yorkshire. He played as an amateur for various local clubs, including Rotherham United, before turning professional in 1934 with Bradford City...

 and Alex Wilson

Alex Wilson (footballer)

Alexander Wilson was a Scottish footballer.Wilson was born in Wishaw, Lanarkshire and after starting at Overton Athletic as a junior player, joined Greenock Morton in 1927...

; however he did play the final two games of the 1938-39

1938-39 in English football

The 1938–39 season was the 64th season of competitive football in England.-Honours:Notes = Number in parentheses is the times that club has won that honour...

 season, his debut coming against Derby County

Derby County F.C.

Derby County Football Club is an English football based in Derby. the club play in the Football League Championship and is notable as being one of the twelve founder members of the Football League in 1888 and is, therefore, one of only ten clubs to have competed in every season of the English...

 on April 29, 1939. His second and final league appearance in goal for Arsenal was memorable, as it was their 2-0 win over Brentford

Brentford F.C.

Brentford Football Club are a professional English football club based in Brentford in the London Borough of Hounslow. They are currently playing in Football League One....

 at Highbury

Arsenal Stadium

Arsenal Stadium was a football stadium in Highbury, North London, which was the home ground of Arsenal Football Club between 6 September 1913 and 7 May 2006...

, a match recorded on film for the movie The Arsenal Stadium Mystery

The Arsenal Stadium Mystery

The Arsenal Stadium Mystery is a 1939 British mystery film, and is one of the first feature films where football is a central element in the plot....

.

Official football was suspended during the war; Marks served in the Royal Air Force

Royal Air Force

The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...

 in Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...

, but still found time to play 129 wartime matches for Arsenal and win one Football League War Cup

Football League War Cup

The Football League War Cup was an association football tournament held between 1939 and 1945 which aimed to fill the gaping hole left in English Football by the cancellation of the FA Cup.- Background:...

 and two Football League South medals, as well as eight wartime caps for England

England national football team

The England national football team represents England in association football and is controlled by the Football Association, the governing body for football in England. England is the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside Scotland, whom they played in the world's first...

. Once war was over and football resumed, Marks was deemed too old for Arsenal and sold for £5,000 in August 1946 to Blackburn Rovers

Blackburn Rovers F.C.

Blackburn Rovers Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Blackburn, Lancashire. The team currently competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football....

 - at the time a record fee for a keeper. Despite spending ten years with the club, thanks to the war Marks had only two official League appearances to his name.

He spent two seasons with Rovers, his career there punctuated by a period out with a jaw

Jaw

The jaw is any opposable articulated structure at the entrance of the mouth, typically used for grasping and manipulating food. The term jaws is also broadly applied to the whole of the structures constituting the vault of the mouth and serving to open and close it and is part of the body plan of...

 injury. He moved to Bristol City

Bristol City F.C.

Bristol City Football Club is one of two football league clubs in Bristol, England . They play at Ashton Gate, located in the south-west of the City...

 in August 1948, but stayed only two months before signing for Reading

Reading F.C.

Reading Football Club is an English association football club based in the town of Reading, Berkshire who currently play in the Championship...

. There he spent five years before retiring as a player. He went on to be a coach with Reading for two years before quitting the game entirely, and becoming a local government officer in his native Wiltshire. He died in 1998, aged 82.