William David Garner (born 14 December 1947) is an English former

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 ...

born in Leicester, who played in

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in Association football around the wor ...

for

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nottingham, England. The team participate in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Founded on the 25 November 1862, it is the ...

Southend United Southend United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of English football. Southend are known as ...

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

Cambridge United Cambridge United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Cambridge, England. They compete in EFL League one , the 3rd tier of the English football league system. The club is based at the Abbey Stadium on Ne ...

and Brentford. A bustling

centre-forward Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

, Garner started his career in local football in the Leicester area before signing professional forms with

. After only two league appearances he returned to Loughborough United, then signed for Southern League club Dunstable Town, for whom he scored 25 goals, and then Bedford Town, who sold him to

in November 1969, for a fee of £12,000. He scored 47 goals in 111 games for Southend, and was their top scorer and Player of the Season in 1971–72. After impressing during a

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

match against

in 1972, he signed for the west

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

ers three days later for £100,000. Garner's time at Chelsea was hindered by the overall decline of the side, culminating in

relegation In sports leagues, promotion and relegation is a process where teams are transferred between multiple divisions based on their performance for the completed season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are often called open leagues. ...

to the

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

in 1975, as well as his own injury problems and loss of form. He made a total of 119 appearances for Chelsea, scoring 36 goals. He signed for

on a free transfer in 1978. He left Cambridge in 1980 and ended his career with stints at

Chelmsford City Chelmsford City Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in Chelmsford, Essex, England. Currently members of they play at the Melbourne Stadium. History Chelmsford Chelmsford Football Club was established in 1878 by members of ...

and Brentford.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Garner, Bill 1947 births Living people Footballers from Leicester English men's footballers Men's association football forwards Notts County F.C. players Bedford Town F.C. players Southend United F.C. players Chelsea F.C. players Cambridge United F.C. players Chelmsford City F.C. players Brentford F.C. players English Football League players Southern Football League players Dunstable Town F.C. players Loughborough United F.C. players