William Henry Dean

William Henry " Billy" Dean ( born February 6, 1887 in Manchester, † May 2, 1949 in Withington, Greater Manchester ) was a British water polo player.

Dean began as a seven year old to swim and won ten first prizes already. His water polo career began at Manchester Swan and Salford. His first cap for England, he still won as a teenager. In 1909 his family moved to Hyde, where he was one of the stars of the team that dominated the beach ball at the time. Together with George Wilkinson he formed the backbone of the team, which accounted for the success of the team. In their time fell nine English championships. Dean played 18 times for England and was six times of that captain of the team. He also played football at Manchester United, and was in two seasons Goalkeeper of the association.

At the Olympics 1920 he took with the English national team and won along with Charles Sydney Smith, Paul Radmilovic, Charles Bugbee, Noel Purcell, Christopher Jones and William Peacock against Belgium 3-2 and won the gold medal. Dean scored two of the three goals in the success. After his career, he was a successful entrepreneur and has been director of an electricity company.