Gordon West

Last updated

Gordon West
Gordon-west.jpg
Personal information
Full name Gordon West
Date of birth(1943-04-24)24 April 1943
Place of birth Darfield, West Riding of Yorkshire, England
Date of death 10 June 2012(2012-06-10) (aged 69)
Place of death Brighton-le-Sands, Merseyside, England
Height 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Position(s) Goalkeeper
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
1960–1962 Blackpool 33 (0)
1962–1973 Everton 402 (0)
1976–1979 Tranmere Rovers 17 (0)
Total452(0)
International career
1968–1969 England 3 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Gordon West (24 April 1943 – 10 June 2012) was an English professional football goalkeeper. He won three international caps in a career that included a long stint at Everton.

Contents

Club career

Blackpool

West played as a defender for Barnsley, Don and Dearne Boys, but when accompanying a friend to a trial with Blackpool decided to try out as a goalkeeper. [1] The Lancashire club signed him, and West made his debut for Blackpool at the age of 17. [2] After 33 League games for the Tangerines, he signed for Everton in March 1962 for £27,000, then a British record for a goalkeeper, [2] replacing Albert Dunlop.

Everton

In his first full season on Merseyside, West won the 1962–63 Football League First Division with Everton. [1] He became the club's first-choice goalkeeper for more than ten years, forming a partnership with central defender and captain, Brian Labone. [1] In that period he won the FA Cup in 1966 and was a runner-up in 1968. [1] In 1969–70 Everton won the league again, with West keeping 21 clean sheets, still a club record. [3] He made 399 appearances for the Toffees and retired in 1973. [4]

Tranmere Rovers

West came out of retirement after three years to play briefly for cross-Mersey rivals Tranmere Rovers. He made seventeen League appearances for the Wirral club.

Career Statistics

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition [5]
ClubSeasonLeagueFA CupLeague CupEuropeFA Charity ShieldTotal
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Blackpool 1960–61 First Division18010000000190
1961–62 First Division12020000000140
Total30030!000000330
Everton 1961–62 First Division16010000000170
1962–63 First Division38030002000430
1963–64 First Division22030002010280
1964–65 First Division20040002000260
1965–66 First Division24080002000340
1966–67 First Division36050004010460
1967–68 First Division41060200000490
1968–69 First Division42050400000510
1969–70 First Division42010400000470
1970–71 First Division12010001010150
1971–72 First Division42040100000470
1972–73 First Division400000000040
Total3350400110130304020
Tranmere Rovers 1976-77 Third Division11000000000110
1977–78 Third Division100000000010
1977–78 Third Division500000000050
Total17000000000170
Career total3820430110130304520

International career

West won three caps for England. He turned down a place in the 1970 FIFA World Cup squad because he wanted to stay at home with his family. [2]

Life after football

After giving up football, West worked in security at RAF Woodvale [4] and became an after dinner speaker. Former Everton and Wales goalkeeper Neville Southall campaigned for West to be rewarded with a testimonial game by Everton for his eleven years of service.[ citation needed ] West lived in Brighton-le-Sands, Merseyside. On 10 June 2012, West died [6] of cancer in hospital. [7]

His funeral was attended by Martin Buchan, Colin Harvey, Dave Hickson, John Hurst, Cliff Marshall, Peter Reid, George Telfer, Derek Temple, Tommy Wright and former player and manager Joe Royle, along with former chairman Sir Philip Carter, who paid tribute at the service. [8]

Honours

Everton [1]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ian Callaghan</span> English footballer (born 1942)

Ian Robert Callaghan is an English retired professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He holds the record for most appearances for Liverpool. He was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 1975 New Year Honours.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steve Heighway</span> Irish footballer

Stephen Derek Heighway is an Irish former footballer who played as a winger. He was part of the successful Liverpool team of the 1970s. Following his eleven-year spell at the club, he was ranked 23rd in the 100 Players Who Shook The Kop poll.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chris Lawler</span> English footballer (born 1943)

Chris Lawler is a former footballer who enjoyed much of Liverpool's success of the mid 1960s to early 1970s.

Gary Ian Ablett was an English professional footballer and manager. He played as a defender from 1985 until 2001.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charlie George</span> English footballer (born 1950)

Frederick Charles George is an English former professional footballer who played as a forward.

Kevin Joseph Campbell is an English former professional footballer, sports television pundit and co-commentator.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tommy Wright (footballer, born 1944)</span> English footballer (born 1944)

Thomas James Wright is a former footballer who played as a right-back. A one-club man, he played for Everton, with whom he won the Football League and the FA Cup, and represented England, including at the 1970 FIFA World Cup.

James Colin Harvey is an English former professional footballer who is best known for his time as a player, coach and manager with Everton.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brian Labone</span> English footballer (1940–2006)

Brian Leslie Labone was an English footballer who played for and captained Everton. A one-club man, Labone's professional career lasted from 1958 to 1971, during which he won the Football League championship twice and the FA Cup once. He also played 26 times for the England national team.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Graeme Sharp</span> Scottish footballer and manager

Graeme Marshall Sharp is a Scottish former professional football player and manager. Sharp played as a forward for Dumbarton, Everton, Oldham Athletic and Bangor City. He enjoyed great success with Everton, helping them win English league championships in 1985 and 1987, the FA Cup in 1984 and the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1985. He made 12 international appearances for Scotland, and was selected in their 1986 World Cup squad.

Kevin Mark Sheedy is a football coach and former Republic of Ireland international player.

Kevin Richardson is an English former footballer who made more than 500 appearances in the Football League and Premier League, playing for Everton, Watford, Arsenal, Aston Villa, Coventry City, Southampton, Barnsley and Blackpool, and also spent a season in La Liga with Real Sociedad. He was capped once for England.

Frank Moss was an English football player and manager.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gordon Cowans</span> English footballer and coach

Gordon Sidney Cowans is an English retired football player and coach.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joe Corrigan</span> English footballer

Joseph Thomas Corrigan is an English former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper in the Football League for Manchester City, Brighton & Hove Albion, Norwich City and Stoke City as well as the England national team.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bobby Mimms</span> British footballer (born 1963)

Robert Andrew Mimms is an English football coach and former player who played as a goalkeeper.

Ken McNaught is a Scottish former footballer who played for Aston Villa from 1977 to 1983 and was part of their Championship winning side of 1981, European Cup victory in 1982 and won the European Super Cup in 1983 against Barcelona, scoring one of Villa's goals in the latter final. McNaught's father was Scottish international footballer Willie McNaught.

John Hurst was an English professional footballer. Born in Blackpool, Lancashire, Hurst joined the youth system for Everton, making his first team debut in the 1965–66 season. Originally a striker, Everton manager Harry Catterick made Hurst into a centre-half, a position in which he appeared in the 1968 FA Cup Final. He formed a defensive partnership with Brian Labone, the club captain of Everton at the time. Following the introduction of substitutes to English football in 1965 Hurst became Everton's first ever substitute replacing Fred Pickering at Stoke City's Victoria Ground in August 1965. Everton won the league title in the 1969–70 season and Hurst was an ever-present during this campaign, making 42 appearances and contributing 5 goals. He also won the 1970 FA Charity Shield with Everton. Hurst was transferred to Oldham Athletic following the 1975–76 season.

James Alexander Arnold is an English former football goalkeeper, noted for his highly intelligent positional ability. He made 165 league appearances in a seven-year career in the English Football League.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1986 FA Charity Shield</span> Football match

The 1986 FA Charity Shield was the 64th Charity Shield, a football match contested by the holders of the Football League First Division and FA Cup. This edition featured a Merseyside derby between Liverpool and Everton at Wembley Stadium. Liverpool achieved a First Division and FA Cup double in 1985–86 so they faced Everton who finished as runners-up in the League. The match was played on 16 August 1986.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Szczepanik, Nick (11 June 2012). "Gordon West obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 June 2012.
  2. 1 2 3 Gillatt, Peter (30 November 2009). Blackpool FC On This Day: History, Facts and Figures from Every Day of the Year. Pitch Publishing Ltd. ISBN   978-1-905411-50-4.
  3. ↑ Lewis, Andy (11 June 2012). "Gordon West 1943-2012". Everton F.C. Archived from the original on 16 June 2012. Retrieved 12 June 2012.
  4. 1 2 "Gordon West". Archived from the original on 8 May 2011. Retrieved 10 June 2011.
  5. ↑ Sourced from Rothmans Football Yearbooks and Everton The Official Complete Record by Steve Johnson
  6. ↑ "Gordon West" . Retrieved 10 June 2012.
  7. ↑ "Gordon West dies of cancer". liverpoolecho.co.uk.
  8. ↑ "Gordon West Funeral". evertonfpf.org.
  9. 1 2 Vernon, Leslie; Rollin, Jack (1977). Rothmans Football Yearbook 1977–78. London: Brickfield Publications Ltd. p. 491. ISBN   0354 09018 6.
  10. ↑ "1963/64 Charity Shield". footballsite.co.uk. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
  11. ↑ "1970/71 Charity Shield". footballsite.co.uk. Archived from the original on 7 November 2011. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
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.