David Peach

Last updated

David Peach
Personal information
Full name David Sidney Peach
Date of birth (1951-01-21) 21 January 1951 (age 72)
Place of birth Bedford, England
Height 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) [1]
Position(s) Full-back
Youth career
1966–1969 Gillingham
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
1969–1974 Gillingham 187 (30)
1974–1980 Southampton 224 (34)
1980–1982 Swindon Town 53 (2)
1982–1983 Leyton Orient 47 (6)
Total511(72)
International career
1977–1978 England U21 8 (1)
Managerial career
Wellworthy Athletic
Lymington Town
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

David Sidney Peach (born 21 January 1951) [1] is an English former professional footballer who played as a full-back. He notably appeared for Southampton in the FA Cup final in 1976.

Contents

In 1969, he turned professional at Gillingham. Peach spent five years at the club, before moving to Southampton in 1974. During his time at Southampton, he won the FA Cup. He left to join Swindon Town in 1980 before joining Leyton Orient for a season in 1982.

Club career

Gillingham

Peach played briefly as an associate schoolboy for Chelsea, before moving to Gillingham as an apprentice in May 1966, turning pro in February 1969. [1] In 1972, he was sent off in successive seasons in matches at Hartlepool United, a coincidence in an era when sendings-off were still very uncommon. [2] Peach was named in the 1973–74 Fourth Division PFA Team of the Year. [3] He was rated the best player in the Fourth Division and came to the attention of Lawrie McMenemy who made him his first signing for Southampton in January 1974, for a reported fee of £50,000. [1]

Southampton

He made his debut in a match that is memorable to Saints fans for all the wrong reasons as Southampton lost 7–0 away to Ipswich. [4] Peach soon settled into the team initially in midfield before becoming an attacking left-back and the club's regular penalty taker. [1] His first penalty was probably the most famous, as he scored the second goal against Crystal Palace in the FA Cup semi-final on 3 April 1976. [5] Peach played in the final against Manchester United as Southampton won 1–0. [6] He was named in the 1976–77 Second Division PFA Team of the Year. [3]

Peach also played in the 1979 League Cup final, scoring the opening goal in a 3–2 loss to Nottingham Forest. [7] He and Nick Holmes are the only two players to have played in two cup finals for Southampton. [8] [9]

On 18 August 1979, he became the highest scoring full-back in the history of the Football League when he scored a penalty against Manchester United. [9]

Swindon and Leyton Orient

He was transferred to Swindon Town for £150,000 (then Swindon's record signing) in March 1980. [10] Signed by Bobby Smith to replace Town legend John Trollope, circumstances were against Peach from the very moment he joined the club; his time at Swindon had the worst possible start – his debut coming in 6–2 defeat at Millwall. [10] That defeat, along with the size of the transfer fee, got Peach off to a terrible start with the fans – and he was never a popular player throughout his whole Town career. [11]

By March 1982, Swindon were in financial difficulties and Peach was released to Leyton Orient on a free transfer to reduce the club's wage bill, after a disappointing period at the County Ground. [10]

In moving to Orient, he swapped a team heading for relegation to Division 4 for one heading for relegation from Division 2. [12] [13] While at Orient, he became the first player to have played on every Football League ground. [1]

International career

He played several times for the England under-21 and 'B' teams. [14] Peach was in the England squad on their tour of South America in June 1977, although he never played. [1]

After football

After retiring from league football, Peach turned out for several Hampshire non-league clubs, including a spell as player-manager at Wellworthy Athletic in Lymington and Lymington Town. [15] Initially "attached" to a fish business in Lymington that failed, Peach started working as a labourer whilst acquiring skills necessary to move into site-management. [1] Peach became assistant site-manager for A&B Homes in Southampton and later a site-manager with Miller Homes. [1] He has worked as a contracts manager for Hazely Developments in Winchester whilst continuing to live in Milford-on-Sea. [1]

Honours

As a player

Southampton

Individual

Related Research Articles

Lawrence McMenemy MBE is an English retired football coach, best known for his spell as manager of Southampton. He is rated in the Guinness Book of Records as one of the twenty most successful managers in post-war English football.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ted Bates (footballer)</span> English footballer (1918–2003)

Edric Thornton Bates MBE was an English professional footballer who played as a forward. He spent the majority of his career at Southampton F.C. as a player, manager, director and president which earned him the sobriquet Mr. Southampton.

Glenn Cockerill is an English retired footballer who played more than 700 games in The Football League in a 22-year career. He was a skilled central midfielder renowned for his passing and shooting skills.

Robert William Thomas Stokes was an English footballer, best known for scoring the winning goal in the 83rd minute of the FA Cup Final for Southampton against Manchester United in 1976.

Peter Joseph Rodrigues is a retired footballer. He was the captain of Southampton's 1976 FA Cup-winning team, and the last captain to be presented the FA Cup by the Queen.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ian Turner (footballer, born 1953)</span> English former footballer

Ian Turner is an English former professional footballer, who won the FA Cup when he played for Southampton as goalkeeper in the 1976 FA Cup final.

Melvin Bernard Blyth is an English former footballer who played for several clubs, including Southampton with whom he won the FA Cup in 1976, and Crystal Palace.

James Steele is a Scottish former football centre back who played professionally in Scotland, England and the United States. He helped Southampton win the 1976 FA Cup Final.

Paul Anthony Gilchrist is a former footballer who played as a forward. He won the FA Cup with Southampton in 1976.

James McCalliog is a Scottish former football player and coach. He played in the Football League for Chelsea, Sheffield Wednesday, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Manchester United, Southampton and Lincoln City, as well as in the United States with Chicago Sting and in Norway with Lyn.

Nicholas Charles Holmes is an English former professional footballer. He spent the majority of his playing career with Southampton, where he won the FA Cup Final in 1976. In 1987, he joined East Cowes Victoria for a season before retiring. From July 2002 to July 2009, Holmes was manager of Salisbury City.

Paul Reginald Bennett is an English former footballer who played as a centre-back during the FA Cup run of Southampton in 1976, and also had spells at Reading and Aldershot.

Dennis Rofe is a former professional football player, who spent most of his playing career with Leicester City before spending many years in various coaching capacities at Southampton.

Craig Dell Maskell is an English football coach and former footballer.

Lawson Colin Chatterley is an English former professional football player and coach. He represented England at Youth level.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of Southampton F.C.</span>

Southampton Football Club is a professional football club that was formed in 1885.

Reuben Omojola Folasanje Agboola is a former professional footballer who played at left back. He made 268 league appearances in a 13-year career in the Football League, and made nine appearances for Nigeria between 1991 and 1993, appearing at the 1992 Africa Cup of Nations.

Douglas McGibbon was an English footballer who played at centre forward for Southampton, Fulham and Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic in the years just after the Second World War. He once scored six goals in a match, one of which was timed at under 5 seconds from the second half kick-off.

Stephen Roy Middleton is an English former footballer who played as a goalkeeper for local rivals Southampton and Portsmouth in the 1970s.

The 1947–48 season was the 47th year of competitive football played by Southampton F.C., the club's 21st season as members of the Football League, and their 19th competing in the Second Division. The Saints finished the campaign in third place in the league table, having gained 52 from a possible 84 points with 21 wins, ten draws and 11 losses. The club also competed in the FA Cup, making it to the sixth round before being eliminated by fellow Second Division side Tottenham Hotspur.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Chalk, Gary; Holley, Duncan; Bull, David (2013). All the Saints: A Complete Players' Who's Who of Southampton FC. Southampton: Hagiology Publishing. pp. 428–429. ISBN   978-0-9926-8640-6.
  2. Daily Express, 24 October 1972, p20
  3. 1 2 3 4 Lynch, Tony (1995). The Official P.F.A. Footballers Heroes. London: Random House. pp. 140–141. ISBN   978-0-09-179135-3.
  4. Howard, Peter (29 January 2016). "David Peach went from relegation in his first season at Saints to become an FA Cup hero". Southern Daily Echo. Retrieved 15 June 2023.
  5. Keenan, Steve (27 October 2009). "The 50 greatest Southampton players" . The Times. Retrieved 15 June 2023.
  6. Bevan, Chris (2 January 2009). "When Saints shocked Man Utd". BBC Sport. Retrieved 15 June 2023.
  7. Leach, Tom (24 February 2019). "Forest's memorable cup final win over Southampton ranked amongst best ever". NottinghamshireLive. Retrieved 6 March 2022.
  8. McMenemy, Lawrie (15 December 2018). "Southampton legend Lawrie McMenemy's exclusive column". Southern Daily Echo. Retrieved 15 June 2023.
  9. 1 2 "David Peach: Ralph Hasenhuttl can be a Saints great". Southern Daily Echo. 16 March 2019. Retrieved 16 June 2023.
  10. 1 2 3 Potter, Jacob (4 April 2021). "9 Swindon Town signings that flopped - Do you agree?". Football League World. Retrieved 16 June 2021.
  11. "David Peach: Player profile". Swindon Town FC. Retrieved 21 October 2017.
  12. "Swindon Town's promotion winning season in the 1980s". Swindon Advertiser. 21 February 2023. Retrieved 16 June 2023.
  13. Cottle, Robin (21 May 2014). "Leyton Orient fans dream of second tier return". Newham Recorder. Retrieved 16 June 2023.
  14. "England - U-21 International Results 1976-1985". RSSSF . Archived from the original on 3 June 2009. Retrieved 23 February 2011.
  15. Gee, Wendy (12 January 2007). "Saints legend Peach back in management". Southern Daily Echo. Retrieved 16 June 2023.
  16. "Southampton FC Player of the Year 1974-2021". My Football Facts. Retrieved 20 March 2022.

Bibliography