William Dyer

William Llewellyn Dyer (11 September 1883 – 1936) was an English businessman and a professional footballer who played as a striker for Athletic Club. He was one of the first pioneers of football in the Basque Country, standing out as a great striker for some of the earliest Basque clubs in existence such as Bilbao FC, Club Bizcaya, and Athletic Club, winning three back-to-back Spanish Cups with the latter two between 1902 and 1904, and being the joint top scorer in the 1902 Copa de la Coronación with 5 goals. In addition to being an outstanding football player, a sport to which he owes his career, he was also an outstanding athlete who also performed in other modalities such as sailing, cricket, tennis, and boxing, among other sports of the British bourgeoisie. His business with his shipments of iron and coal was going very well. Playing career Early years Dyer was born in Sunderland on 11 September 1883. He arrived in Bilbao at the hands of his father, Sidney, who devoted himself to the mineral purchase business. After the death of his father, who had been Britain's honorary consul in Bilbao, he took over the family business while becoming involved in the town's affairs. Dyer became interested in bullfighting and participated in the creation of the Cocherito de Bilbao club, in honor of the local bullfighter Cástor Jaureguibeitia Ibarra. In 1901, together with fellow Englishmen George Langford, George Cockram and Walter Evans, he was one of the young English workers and residents in Bilbao who joined the recently established Bilbao Football Club.