George Petchey
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 24 June 1931 | ||
| Place of birth | Whitechapel Greater London | ||
| Playing position | wing half | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1948–1952 | West Ham United | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1952–1953 | West Ham United | 2 | (0) |
| 1953–1960 | Queens Park Rangers | 255 | (22) |
| 1960–1965 | Crystal Palace | 143 | (12) |
| Teams managed | |||
| 1971–1977 | Leyton Orient | ||
| 1978–1980 | Millwall | ||
|
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. | |||
George W Petchey (born 24 June 1931 in Whitechapel, London) is an English former footballer who made 400 appearances in the Football League for West Ham United, Queens Park Rangers and Crystal Palace, playing at wing half (defensive midfield).[1] He was well known for being a hard tackling, midfield general or enforcer, whilst also being one of the first of his generation to play an attractive, keep ball style of play at the same time.
George Petchey joined West Ham in 1948 and transferred to QPR in 1953. He made his Rangers debut against Brighton in August 1953 and over the next seven seasons, played 255 league games for Rangers scoring 22 goals.
Petchey signed for Crystal Palace on 24 May 1960.[2] He went on to play 143 league games for Palace scoring 12 goals. In season 1960–61 he was ever present as Palace achieved promotion.[3] Subsequently he suffered a serious eye injury which ultimately hastened his retirement.[3] He returned from the injury in a home FA Cup quarter final tie against Leeds United, in March 1965,[3] and made one further appearance, in the league, the following month.[4] He retired to become coach at Crystal Palace[2] and later manager at Leyton Orient and Millwall and Brighton, whilst also having roles at Chelsea.[5] Following these stints as manager he then become first team coach at Brighton, moving on to manager whilst at the Goldstone ground in Hove. George was well known for being an excellent coach of young players (he was the first English coach to get all the Uefa coaching badges), demonstrated when bringing through the ranks the famous Laurie Cunningham at Leyton Orient, who went on to be one of the best players of his generation. His passion for bringing through young talent took him to become chief scout at Newcastle United in the late 1990s under Ruud Gullit, bringing in players such as Kieron Dyer for Ipswich Town. Following this, he became one of the first team coaches under Sir Bobby Robson in the successful early 2000s before retirement.
References
- ↑ http://www.neilbrown.newcastlefans.com/player3/georgepetchey.html
- 1 2 Purkiss, Mike; Sands, Nigel. Crystal Palace: A Complete Record 1905-1989. The Breedon Books Publishing Company. p. 336. ISBN 0907969542.
- 1 2 3 Purkiss, Mike; Sands, Nigel. Crystal Palace: A Complete Record 1905–1989. The Breedon Books Publishing Company. p. 84. ISBN 0907969542.
- ↑ Purkiss, Mike; Sands, Nigel (1989). Crystal Palace a Complete Record: 1905-1989. The Breedon Books Publishing Company. p. 223. ISBN 0907969542.
- ↑ "George Petchey". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 25 January 2010.