Bob Latchford

Last updated

Bob Latchford
Personal information
Full name Robert Dennis Latchford
Date of birth (1951-01-18) 18 January 1951 (age 73)
Place of birth Birmingham, England
Position(s) Centre forward
Youth career
1967–1968 Birmingham City
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
1968–1974 Birmingham City 160 (68)
1974–1981 Everton 236 (106)
1981 Brisbane Lions 4 (4)
1981–1984 Swansea City 87 (35)
1984 NAC Breda 16 (13)
1984–1985 Coventry City 12 (2)
1985–1986 Lincoln City 15 (2)
1986 → Newport County (loan) 20 (5)
1986–1987 Merthyr Tydfil
Total550(235)
International career
England youth 4
England U23 6 (2)
1977–1979 England 12 (5)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Robert Dennis Latchford (born 18 January 1951) is an English former footballer who played as a centre forward. He made more than 500 appearances in the Football League, playing for Birmingham City, Everton, Swansea City and Coventry City in the First Division, and won 12 full caps for England.

Contents

Career

Latchford was born in Kings Heath, Birmingham. He was transferred from Birmingham City to Everton for £350,000, a British transfer record at the time (Howard Kendall and Archie Styles were transferred to Birmingham City as part of the same deal, with Birmingham being paid just £80,000). At Everton, Latchford was the top scorer for six successive seasons. He scored 30 goals in the 1977–78 season, winning a £10,000 prize offered by a national newspaper for the first footballer to reach that number in a single season. [1] During the mid-seventies, Latchford was widely considered one of the top English forwards of his generation. He earned his first full cap for England in a World Cup qualifier against Italy in 1977. In April 2006 a book was published telling the story of his 1977/78 season. Co-written with journalist Martin O'Boyle, the book supports Everton's former players charity. Archived 4 May 2015 at the Wayback Machine

The closest he came to a winner's medal at Everton was as a finalist in the League Cup in 1977. Latchford made 268 appearances (3 as substitute) for Everton scoring 138 goals. After a guest stint in Australia for Brisbane Lions in 1981, scoring 4 goals in as many appearances, [2] Latchford left Everton for Swansea, newly promoted to the top tier of English football, scoring a hat-trick on his debut for the Swans. He scored 35 goals in 87 league appearances during his three years at Swansea, meaning that - as at Everton - he averaged a goal nearly every other game.

Latchford later also played for Dutch club NAC Breda (15 Appearances – 13 Goals), Newport County and finally Merthyr Tydfil before retiring as a player in 1987.

During his time at Everton, he was the club's leading post Second World War goalscorer with 138 goals, a record he held until 1989 when Graeme Sharp exceeded Latchford's tally. By the time Latchford left Everton, only Dixie Dean (pre Second World War) had scored more goals for the club in history.

Latchford played 12 times for England, scoring 5 goals. He represented the players at Professional Footballers' Association, and in 1983 was part of a delegation [3] which negotiated improved terms for players in the FA's deal with broadcasters for live coverage of that season's FA Cup.

Now living in Germany with his family, Latchford makes regular trips back to England to speak on the after-dinner circuit and also has a regular column on Everton independent website, NSNO.co.uk.

Latchford's two brothers, Dave and Peter, were both professional goalkeepers. Like Bob, Dave Latchford played for Birmingham City; whilst Peter Latchford represented West Bromwich Albion before spending over ten years at Celtic. (In March 1974, Bob managed the rare footballing feat of scoring twice against a sibling in a top-flight match .)

Honours

Birmingham City

Everton

Swansea City

NAC Breda

Merthyr Tydfil

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Merthyr Tydfil F.C.</span> Former association football club in Wales

Merthyr Tydfil Football Club was a Welsh football club based at the Penydarren Park ground in Merthyr Tydfil. In 2010 the club was liquidated and reformed under the name Merthyr Town, which was accepted into Division One of the Western League.

Andrew Johnson is an English former professional footballer who played as a striker. He played for Birmingham City, Crystal Palace, Everton, Fulham and Queens Park Rangers.

David Edward Johnson was an English professional footballer and manager who played as a forward and won major trophies for Liverpool in the 1970s and 1980s. He also played for Ipswich Town, Everton and other clubs, as well as the England national team.

The 1977–78 season was the 98th season of competitive football in England.

The 1978–79 season was the 99th season of competitive football in England.

Paul Rideout is an English former professional footballer and youth team coach of Major League Soccer side Sporting Kansas City.

Kevin Philip Reeves is a former association footballer who was formerly the Chief Scout at Everton football club. He is an English former professional footballer who played as a forward scoring 103 goals from 333 appearances in the Football League playing for AFC Bournemouth, Norwich City, Manchester City and Burnley. He was capped twice by England at full international level. On 4 July 2013, he became Everton's head scout, a post he no longer holds in 2023.

Roger Graeme Gibbins is an English former professional footballer. He represented England at Schools level.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robbie James</span> Welsh footballer

Robert Mark James was a Welsh international footballer who played for many teams including Swansea City, Stoke City and Queens Park Rangers. He represented his country on 47 occasions over a period of ten years, scoring a total of seven goals.

James Phillips Allen was an English footballer and football manager who played and coached in the Football League. He played as a defender for Portsmouth and Aston Villa, making over 250 league appearances. He made two appearances for England at full international level.

David Barry Latchford is an English former footballer who made 208 appearances in the Football League and 8 in the Scottish League playing as a goalkeeper. He is the older brother of former England international striker Bob Latchford and Celtic goalkeeper Peter Latchford.

Ronny Goodlass is an English footballer who played for English Premier League club Everton.

Samuel McKee McCrory was a professional footballer from Northern Ireland, most notably spending five years with Southend United and scoring the first goal at their Roots Hall stadium.

The 1977–78 season was the 79th completed season of The Football League.

Kevin Penry Rogers is a Welsh former professional footballer who played as a midfielder in the Football League for Birmingham City and Wrexham. He played in the European Cup Winners' Cup for both Wrexham and Merthyr Tydfil.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jake Bidwell</span> English footballer (born 1993)

Jake Brian Bidwell is an English professional footballer who plays as a left back for Coventry City. He began his career in the academy at Premier League side Everton and was capped by England at age-group level.

The 1991–92 season was Colchester United's 50th season in their history and their second consecutive season in the Conference, the fifth tier of English football and the highest tier of non-League football in England. Alongside competing in the Conference, the club also participated in the FA Cup, the FA Trophy and the Bob Lord Trophy.

Robert Curry was an English professional footballer who played as an inside forward for Sheffield Wednesday and Colchester United in the Football League.

During the 1981–82 English football season, Swansea City A.F.C. competed in the Football League First Division, following promotion from the Second Division. It was their debut season in the English top flight and the first season in which a Welsh club was part of the top English league since arch-rivals Cardiff City were relegated at the end of 1961–62.

The 1973–74 Football League season was Birmingham City Football Club's 71st in the Football League and their 40th in the First Division. After spending most of the season in the relegation positions, they finished in 19th place in the 22-team division, avoiding relegation by just one point. They entered the 1973–74 FA Cup at the third round proper and lost to Queens Park Rangers in the fourth, and were eliminated from the League Cup in the fifth round by Plymouth Argyle. They lost in the second round of the Texaco Cup on aggregate, after the first attempt to play the second leg of their match against Newcastle United had to be abandoned after 100 minutes when it became too dark to play.

References

  1. ↑ Bob Latchford Archived 20 June 2014 at the Wayback Machine , Everton F.C. website
  2. ↑ "La Butie to Lawrence". Aussie Footballers. OzFootball.
  3. ↑ ITN News at Ten, 20 December 1983
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.