William Thomas Wooldridge (19 August 1878–1945) 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...

 footballer who spent his career with Wolverhampton Wanderers

Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C.

Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club is an English professional association football club that represents the city of Wolverhampton in the West Midlands region. They are members of the Premier League, the highest level of English football. The club was founded in 1877 and since 1889 has played at...

.

Career

Wooldridge played for Wednesbury Old Athletic during its successful 1899-1900 campaign, and was a key member of the side that won the Walsall & District League championship, the Staffordshire Junior Cup and the Walsall Junior Cup, as well as being beaten finalists in the Wolverhampton Junior Cup. He scored both goals in the Walsall Cup success v Wednesbury St John's, and scored the decisive second goal in a 2-0 victory over Hednesford Swifts on the last day of the season, which enabled Wednesbury to take the title, finishing a point ahead of Hednesford Town. He joined Wolverhampton Wanderers

Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C.

Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club is an English professional association football club that represents the city of Wolverhampton in the West Midlands region. They are members of the Premier League, the highest level of English football. The club was founded in 1877 and since 1889 has played at...

 in the summer of 1900, making his first team debut on Boxing Day 1900 in a 1–1 draw with . He scored two in his second game to give the club victory over their Black Country rivals

Black Country derby

The Black Country derby is most commonly the local derby between the English football teams West Bromwich Albion and Wolverhampton Wanderers. The term 'Black Country derby' can also be given to a match between either of these teams and Walsall F.C., though such matches are less common as a result...

 , and ended the season their top goalscorer (with 9).

He was Wolves' leading goalscorer five times in his first six seasons at Molineux

Molineux stadium

Molineux Stadium is a Premier League football stadium situated in Whitmore Reans, Wolverhampton, England. It has been the home ground of Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club since 1889, and has a long and illustrious history as the first 'new build' stadium in Football League history, one of the...

, scoring a total of 90 goals in 356 appearances during his career. He also scored a hat-trick for the Football League in a 9–0 win over the Irish League in an inter-league friendly in November 1901.

He captained Wolves to their 1908 FA Cup

1908 FA Cup Final

The 1908 FA Cup Final was contested by Wolverhampton Wanderers and Newcastle United at Crystal Palace Park. Newcastle had just finished fourth in the First Division during this season, after two successive league titles and this was their third FA Cup final appearance in four years...

 triumph, when they upset First Division

Football League First Division

The First Division was a division of The Football League between 1888 and 2004 and the highest division in English football until the creation of the Premier League in 1992. The secondary tier in English football has since become known as the Championship....

3-1 in the final. He played out his latter seasons in defence before retiring in 1911.

He died in 1945.