Charlie Sagar

Charles (Charlie) Sagar was born in Edgworth, Lancashire on 28th March 1878. He played football for Edgworth Rovers and Turton before joining Bury in 1896.

Sagar was an immediate success at Bury and on 17th March 1900 he won his first international cap when he played for England against Ireland. He also played against Wales but after failing to score in both games he was dropped from the England team.

In 1900 Sagar played at inside-left for Bury against Southampton in the FA Cup Final at Crystal Palace. Although he did not score Bury won the game 4-0.

Sagar also played in the 1903 Cup Final when he scored the second goal in the record 6-0 victory over Derby County.

Sagar was the Bury's top scorer in the 1903-04 and 1904-05 seasons. During his time at Bury he scored 71 goals in 186 games.

In May 1905 Sagar joined the Second Division side, Manchester United. The manager, Ernest Mangnall, had managed to make several good signings and the team included players such as Charlie Roberts, Dick Duckworth, George Wall, John Peddie, John Picken, Thomas Blackstock and Alec Bell.

In the 1905-06 season Manchester United won promotion to the First Division when they finished second to Bristol City. The club scored 90 goals in 38 games and despite being injured for much of the season, Sagar got 16 of these goals.

Sagar suffered a bad knee injury the following season and only played in ten games. He failed to recover and was forced to retire at the end of the 1906-07 season. He had scored 20 goals in only 30 games for the club.

Sager, who was a founder member of the Association Football Players Union, set up a business in Bolton.

Charlie Sagar died in Bolton on 4th December 1919.