Bernard Charles Purdie (born 20 April 1949 in

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the count ...

, Wales) is a former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who played as a striker for his hometown club

before making the short journey across the border to join English neighbours

Chester Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...

in 1971. He made an explosive start to his Chester career by scoring four times on his full home debut against Gillingham but was to struggle for goals after this.''Player Memories – Bernard Purdie'', Chester City v York City matchday programme 7/1/95, p 15 At the end of 1972–73 he was released by Chester along with Graham Clapham and

Mick Hollis Mick Hollis (born 14 November 1949) is an English footballer, who played as a forward in the Football League for Barrow, Chester, Stockport County and Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), ...

. Purdie remained in professional football by joining Chester's Cheshire rivals Crewe Alexandra, for the first of two spells with the club. In between he helped Huddersfield Town win the

Football League Division Four The Football League Fourth Division was the fourth-highest division in the English football league system from the 1958–59 season until the creation of the Premier League prior to the 1992–93 season. Whilst the division disappeared in name ...

championship in 1979–80 after a £22,000 transfer. After finishing his league career with Crewe in 1983, Purdie joined non-league side

Bangor City Bangor City Football Club ( cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Dinas Bangor) are an inactive Welsh football club from the City of Bangor, Gwynedd. They started the 2021–22 season in the Cymru North the second level of the Welsh football league system, but ...

and worked as a postman in Wrexham but is now retired.

References

1949 births Living people Footballers from Wrexham Welsh men's footballers Men's association football forwards Wrexham A.F.C. players Chester City F.C. players Crewe Alexandra F.C. players Huddersfield Town A.F.C. players English Football League players Bangor City F.C. players {{Wales-footy-forward-stub