Fred Pickering

Football player infobox2
playername = Fred Pickering


fullname = Frederick Pickering
nickname =
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1941|1|19
cityofbirth = Blackburn
countryofbirth = England
dateofdeath =
cityofdeath =
countryofdeath =
height =
currentclub =
position = Forward (retired)
youthyears =
youthclubs =
years = 1959-1963
1963-1967
1967-1969
1969-1971
1971
1971
clubs = Blackburn Rovers
Everton
Birmingham
Blackpool
Blackburn Rovers
Brighton & Hove Albion
Career
caps(goals) = 123 0(59)
097 0(56)
074 0(27)
049 0(24)
011 00(2)
00? 00(?)
354 (168)
manageryears =
managerclubs =
nationalyears = 1964
nationalteam = England
nationalcaps(goals) = 003 00(5)

Frederick "Fred" Pickering (born January 19 1941 in Blackburn, Lancashire) is an English former professional footballer. He played as a forward.

Career

Domestic career

Pickering began his career with his hometown club, Blackburn Rovers, in 1959, signing professional forms on his 17th birthday. [ [http://www.birminghamcity-mad.co.uk/news/loadfeat.asp?cid=ED31&id=89663 Singing The Blues - Fred Pickering] ] In four years at Ewood Park, he made 123 league appearances and scored 59 goals.

In 1963, Pickering signed for Everton. He went on to make 97 league appearances and score 56 goals in his four years on Merseyside.

In 1967, Pickering joined Birmingham City. He spent two years in the Midlands, making 74 league appearances and netting 27 goals.

In June 1969, Blackpool, then in Division Two and under the managership of Les Shannon, came in for Pickering's services. He made his debut for "the Seasiders" in the opening game of the 1969–70 league campaign, a 2–1 victory over Portsmouth at Bloomfield Road on August 9, 1969. He partnered Alan Suddick in the forward line, as he did for the majority of the season. He scored his first goal for the club in the next game, a 3–1 league defeat at Norwich City on August 16.

On April 13, 1970, in the penultimate league game of the season, Pickering scored a hat-trick in a 3–0 victory at arch-rivals Preston North End in the West Lancashire derby. The result sealed Blackpool's promotion to Division One while also putting another nail in Preston's coffin: "the Lilywhites" were relegated to Division Three for the first time in their history shortly thereafter.

In all, Pickering scored eighteen goals in his first season with Blackpool and finished as the club's top scorer.

The following season, 1970–71, Pickering scored seven goals in fourteen starts for Blackpool, but it wasn't enough to save the club from relegation back to Division Two at the end of the season. Pickering played his final game for the club on February 20, 1971, a single-goal defeat at Derby County. New manager Bob Stokoe, who succeeded Les Shannon around Christmastime, allowed Pickering to return to Blackburn Rovers; however, after a disagreement with Rovers manager Ken Furphy, he left for Brighton, where he finished his career.

International career

Pickering won three caps and scored five goals for England in 1964 during his Everton career. He made his international debut on May 27, 1964, against the USA, and scored a hat-trick in a 10–0 victory for Alf Ramsey's team. [ [http://www.thefa.com/England/SeniorTeam/NewsAndFeatures/Postings/2005/05/USAvEngland_MatchReport.htm "England strike it Rich" - TheFA.com] ]

References

;Specific

;General
* [http://www.neilbrown.newcastlefans.com/player/fredpickering.htm Pickering's profile at Neil Brown's statistics site]
* [http://www.englandstats.com/playerreport.php?pid=761 Profile at EnglandStats.com]
*cite book | first=Roy | last=Calley| coauthors= | title=Blackpool: A Complete Record 1887-1992 | publisher=Breedon Books Sport | location= | year=1992 | editor= | id=ISBN 1-873626-07-X

External links

* [http://www.birminghamcity-mad.co.uk/news/loadfeat.asp?cid=ED31&id=89663 Singing the Blues - Fred Pickering]