ABSTRACT
William or ‘Bill’ or ‘Billy’ Dale, known to many as ‘Old Surefoot’, was widely regarded as one of the best uncapped full-backs of his era, an era when English football was dominated by Arsenal and its star full-back Eddie Hapgood. Having joined Manchester City in December 1931 from Manchester United, Dale quickly became a regular in what was to be one of City’s most successful sides until the time of Joe Mercer and Malcolm Allison some thirty years later. Dale was in the side that won both the FA Cup, in 1934, and the First Division Championship, in 1937; he was also a member of the team that lost 3-0 to Everton in the Cup Final 1933 and of the team that was relegated from Division One in 1938. While other players in the City team of the 1930s are probably better known today, Billy Dale was what most full-backs have been: the solid reliable rock upon which the more creative mid-field and forward players could build, thereby justifying his nickname. Before the Cup Final in 1933 the Bolton Evening News described Dale as ‘clever and studious, quick and sure in anticipation, a sound tackler who volleys the ball beautifully in his clearances’.1 His contemporaries included Matt Busby, Peter Doherty and Frank Swift; Dale was one of the unsung heroes of the club. By the time he left to pursue his career with Ipswich in 1938 he had accumulated 237 League and 32 FA Cup appearances with City.
