Ben Burley

Ben Burley
Personal information
Full name Benjamin Burley
Date of birth (1907-11-02)2 November 1907
Place of birth Sheffield, England
Date of death 25 January 2003(2003-01-25) (aged 95)
Place of death Great Yarmouth, England
Height 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m)
Position(s) Outside forward
Youth career
Darnall School
Netherhope Institute
Woodhouse Mill United
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1931–1933 Sheffield United 0 (0)
1933–1934 Southampton 2 (0)
1934–1935 Grimsby Town 22 (5)
1935–1938 Norwich City 35 (4)
1938–1939 Darlington 35 (7)
1939–1940 Chelmsford City
Managerial career
1951–1954 Chelmsford City
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Benjamin Burley (2 November 1907 – 25 January 2003)[1] was an English professional footballer who played as an outside-forward for various clubs in the 1930s, including Southampton, Grimsby Town, Norwich City and Darlington.[2] He was later a coach before becoming manager of Chelmsford City in the 1950s.

Football career

Playing career

Burley was born in Sheffield where he was educated at Darnall School and played football as a youth for Netherhope Institute and Woodhouse Mill United. He also played schoolboy football for the Sheffield and Yorkshire F.A.s.[3]

In November 1931, he joined Sheffield United but never made any first-team appearances before a transfer to the south coast to join Southampton of the Football League Second Division in September 1933. Described as a "stocky and thrustful winger",[3] he was used as cover for Fred Tully and Bill Luckett and his only first-team appearances came at outside-left in the last two matches of the 1933–34 season, both defeats.[4]

In the summer of 1934, he moved to Grimsby Town who had just been promoted to the First Division. Burley remained for a season, scoring five goals in 22 appearances[2] as Grimsby finished fifth in the league, their highest-ever league position.[5]

Burley moved on in the summer of 1935, to return to the Second Division with Norwich City. He made his debut on 7 September 1935[6] and played 35 league matches, scoring four goals,[2][7] over a three-year period, before joining Darlington in May 1938. In his one season at Feethams, Burley rarely missed a match in the Third Division North, scoring seven goals from 35 league appearances.[2]

In July 1939, he dropped out of the Football League to join Chelmsford City, who had joined the Southern League a year earlier. In a season which was truncated because of the Second World War, Chelmsford won the Eastern section and then drew with Lovell's Athletic in the play-offs; both teams were declared joint champions.[8]

During the war, Burley played as a guest for various clubs, including Southend United, Millwall, Brighton & Hove Albion, Queens Park Rangers and Crystal Palace.[3]

Coaching and management career

After the war, Burley obtained his F.A. coaching badge, before working as a coach in the Netherlands.[3]

In June 1951, he returned to Chelmsford City, initially as a coach,[3] before replacing Billy Walsh as manager in August.[9] In Burley's three seasons in charge at Chelmsford, the club finished in the lower half of the Southern League table[8] and in 1954, Burley was replaced by Frank Grice. In his time as manager, Chelmsford City played 105 matches, of which 30 were won, 21 drawn and 54 lost.[10]

Honours

As a player

Chelmsford City

References

  1. ^ Chalk, Gary; Holley, Duncan; Bull, David (2013). All the Saints: A Complete Players' Who's Who of Southampton FC. Southampton: Hagiology Publishing. p. 32. ISBN 978-0-9926-8640-6.
  2. ^ a b c d Joyce, Michael (2004). Football League Players' Records 1888 to 1939. Nottingham: Tony Brown. p. 43. ISBN 1-899468-67-6.
  3. ^ a b c d e Holley, Duncan; Chalk, Gary (1992). The Alphabet of the Saints. ACL & Polar Publishing. p. 54. ISBN 0-9514862-3-3.
  4. ^ Chalk, Gary; Holley, Duncan (1987). Saints – A complete record. Breedon Books. p. 95. ISBN 0-907969-22-4.
  5. ^ "Grimsby Town". Football Club History Database. Retrieved 3 November 2012.
  6. ^ "NCFC Players". Sing Up the River End!. canaryseventyninety. Retrieved 3 November 2012.
  7. ^ "Norwich City Appearances". Sing Up the River End!. canaryseventyninety. 7 February 2012. Retrieved 3 November 2012.
  8. ^ a b "Chelmsford City". Football Club History Database. Retrieved 3 November 2012.
  9. ^ "City's past player-manager". This is Essex. 24 March 2011. Archived from the original on 5 May 2013. Retrieved 3 November 2012.
  10. ^ Selby, David. "List of City Managers and their league records". The Chelmsford City Historian. Retrieved 3 November 2012.