William Charles Summerscales (born 4 January 1949) 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 ...

who played in central defence for Leek Town,

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, at the foothills of the South Pennines in the dale on the River Roch, northwest of Oldham and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough ...

, Stafford Rangers, and Newcastle KB United (Australia). He helped Port Vale to win

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out of the Fourth Division in 1969–70.

Career

Summerscales played for North Staffordshire College of Technology and Leek Town, before joining

Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in . Vale are the only English Football League club not to be named after a place; their name being a reference to the valley o ...

for a £400 fee in February 1970. He played four times in the Fourth Division in the 1969–70

campaign. He played seven Third Division games in the 1970–71 season, and scored his first senior goal on 19 December, in a 3–0 win over

at Spotland. He went on to score one goal (against

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 ...

) in 28 games in the 1971–72 campaign. He scored three goals in 50 matches in the 1972–73 campaign, including Vale's consolation goal in a 3–1 defeat to Newcastle United in the

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. He came second to Ray Williams in that year's vote for the Port Vale Player of the Year award. He scored once in 27 games in the 1973–74 season, before his run in the first team was brought abruptly to a halt on 12 January 1974, when he broke his neck during a 2–2 draw with

York City York City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of York, North Yorkshire, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team compete in the National League, at the fifth tier of the English football league sys ...

Vale Park Vale Park is a football stadium in Stoke-on-Trent, England. It has been the home ground of Port Vale F.C. since 1950. The ground has seen its capacity go up and down, its peak being 42,000 in 1954 against Blackpool, although a club record 49, ...

. After he returned to fitness, he had a new

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, as

Gordon Lee Gordon Lee may refer to: *Gordon Lee (comic store owner) (1958–2013), American comic book store owner charged with distributing obscene materials *Gordon Lee (congressman) (1859–1927), U.S. congressman from Georgia *Gordon Lee (footballer) (193 ...

left the club, and "Valiants" legend

Roy Sproson Roy Sproson (23 September 1930 – 24 January 1997) was an English footballer and football manager for Port Vale. A one-club man, he holds the all-time appearance record for Vale, making 837 starts (and 5 substitute appearances) for Vale ...

took his place at Vale Park. Summerscales featured 29 times in the 1974–75 season, and was dropped from the first team in March 1975 before he was given a free transfer two months later. He moved on to

Walter Joyce Walter Joyce (10 September 1937 – 29 September 1999) was an English professional footballer and manager who played as a wing half, born in Oldham, Lancashire. His son, Warren Joyce, also played for Burnley Burnley () is a town and the ...

's Rochdale, and helped the "Dale" to finish 15th in the Fourth Division in 1975–76, and then 18th in 1976–77 under the stewardship of Brian Green. Summerscales scored four goals in 87 league games during his two seasons at Spotland. He then played in the Northern Premier League for Stafford Rangers before moving to Australia to join National Soccer League side Newcastle KB United; he later returned to England with Marquis.

Later life

Once he retired from the field, Summerscales became the under-15

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at Stoke City and a committee member at Redgate United. He founded grocery company Morning Fresh in 1980 and moved into wholesaling five years later, ending the decade with four retail shops.

Career statistics

Source:

Honours

Port Vale * Football League Fourth Division fourth-place promotion: 1969–70

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Summerscales, Bill Footballers from Willesden English men's footballers Men's association football defenders Leek Town F.C. players Port Vale F.C. players Rochdale A.F.C. players Stafford Rangers F.C. players English expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's soccer players in Australia Newcastle KB United players English Football League players Northern Premier League players National Soccer League (Australia) players Association football coaches Stoke City F.C. non-playing staff English company founders 1949 births Living people