- Peter Zelem
Football player infobox
playername = Peter Zelem
fullname = Peter Richard Zelem
height = height|ft=6|in=0
nickname =
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1962|2|13
cityofbirth =Manchester
countryofbirth =England
currentclub = Retired
clubnumber =
position = Defender
youthyears = c.1976–1978
1978–1980
youthclubs = Blackpool
Chester City
years = 1980–1985
1985–1987
1987
1987–1989
1989–1991
1991–1992
clubs = Chester City
Wolverhampton Wanderers
Preston North End
Burnley
Winsford United
Ashton United
caps(goals) = 129 0 (15)
45 00 (1)
06 00 (1)
19 00 (2)
nationalyears =
nationalteam =
nationalcaps(goals) =
managerclubs =
manageryears =
pcupdate =
ntupdate =Peter Zelem (born
13 February 1962 ,Manchester ) is a former English professional footballer who played as a defender. He played inThe Football League forfour clubs during the 1980s.Playing career
Zelem began with Blackpool on schoolboy forms but was released and joined Chester as an apprentice [’Where are they now?’, Chester City v. Burnley matchday programme; 5/9/1992; pg. 20] . He made his debut in a 1–0 win over Carlisle United in August 1980, one of six first-team appearances he made during the 1980–81 season. His first goal arrived on the opening day of the following season against Bristol Rovers [cite book | author=Chas Sumner | title=On the Borderline: The Official History of Chester City 1885-1997 | year=1997| pages= stats section |id=ISBN 1-874427-52-6] and he became a regular over the next few years. By the start of 1984–85 he was the longest serving player at Chester [’Where are they now?’, Chester City v. Burnley matchday programme; 5/9/1992; pg. 20] but he moved midway through the season to Wolverhampton Wanderers for £12,500 [cite book | author=Chas Sumner | title=On the Borderline: The Official History of Chester City 1885-1997 | year=1997| pages= p.100 |id=ISBN 1-874427-52-6] . Although this initially gave Zelem the chance to play in the Second Division, the club were rapidly sliding downwards and were in Division Four by the time he linked up with former Chester manager John McGrath at Preston North End in March 1987.
He helped Preston to promotion before joining Burnley in the summer of 1987. After an injury hit two years at
Turf Moor [’Where are they now?’, Chester City v. Burnley matchday programme; 5/9/1992; pg. 20] , Zelem left the club and joined non-league side Winsford United. He then moved on to Ashton United, but injury forced him to retire from playing [’Where are they now?’, Chester City v. Burnley matchday programme; 5/9/1992; pg. 20] . Away from football he has worked as a contract cleaner with his twin brother Alan (a former goalkeeper with Macclesfield Town [’Where are they now?’, Chester City v. Burnley matchday programme; 5/9/1992; pg. 20] .Zelem was the first post-war Football League player to have a surname beginning with a ‘Z’, first appearing the season before
Romeo Zondervan joined Ipswich Town [cite book | author=Barry J Hugman | title=The PFA Premier & Football League Players’ Records: 1946-2005 | year=2005| pages= p.682-683 |id=ISBN 1-85291-665-6]Honours
Preston North End
* Division Four runners-up: 1986–87 (6 apps, 1 goal).
External links
* [http://www.claretsmad.co.uk/news/loadfeat.asp?cid=ED35&id=341500 Burnley career stats]
References
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
