John Simpson (footballer born 1933)

Football player infobox| playername= John Simpson
fullname = John Lionel Simpson
nickname =


dateofbirth = 5 October 1933
dateofdeath=Death date and age|1993|12|7|1933|10|5|df=y
cityofdeath=Gillingham
cityofbirth = Appleby
countryofbirth = England
countryofdeath = England
height = 6'1"
currentclub =
clubnumber =
position = Goalkeeper
youthyears =
youthclubs =
years=1954-1957
1957
1957-72
1972
1972
clubs=Netherfield
Lincoln City
Gillingham → Margate "(loan)"
Maidstone United
caps(goals) = 00? (?)
005 (0) [ [http://www.neilbrown.newcastlefans.com/lincoln/lincoln.htm Lincoln City all-time players' records] ]
571 (0)cite book | first=Roger|last= Triggs | title=The Men Who Made Gillingham Football Club| publisher=Tempus Publishing Ltd | year=2001| id=ISBN 0-7524-2243-X|pages=p295]
00? (?)
00? (?)
nationalyears = | nationalteam =
nationalcaps(goals) =
pcupdate =

John Lionel Simpson (born Appleby, 5 October 1933, died Gillingham, 7 December 1993) was an English football goalkeeper. He spent fifteen years playing for Gillingham, for whom he holds the all-time record for the most matches played in the Football League.

Career

Simpson began his professional career with Lincoln City, having been spotted playing for Netherfield in the Lancashire Combination but only managed five first-team appearances for the Sincil Bank club before Gillingham snapped him up in the summer of 1957 for just £750. For the next fifteen years he was the Gills' first-choice goalkeeper, helping them win the Fourth Division championship in the 1963–64 season, during which he let in just 30 goals, a club record which stood until 1995–96. In 1972, after a club record 571 Football League appearances, he left the professional game to see out his career with non-league Maidstone United, but in 1975 he returned to Priestfield Stadium to play for Gillingham's reserves due to an injury crisis.

After his retirement he ran a newsagent's close to Priestfield Stadium. He died in 1993, aged 60. His record tally of 571 league appearances for Gillingham remains intact to this day, fellow goalkeeper Ron Hillyard's career having been ended by injury just 8 matches short of the record.

References