Robert Zepp McCarthy (born 21 November 1948) is an English retired

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 ...

. Originally from

Lyndhurst, Hampshire Lyndhurst is a large village and civil parish situated in the New Forest National Park in Hampshire, England. Serving as the administrative capital of the New Forest, it is a popular tourist attraction, with many independent shops, art gallerie ...

, McCarthy played the majority of his professional career with

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

club

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

, before finishing his short career with brief spells at Poole Town, Cowes Sports, and

Andover Andover may refer to: Places Australia * Andover, Tasmania Canada * Andover Parish, New Brunswick * Perth-Andover, New Brunswick United Kingdom * Andover, Hampshire, England ** RAF Andover, a former Royal Air Force station United States * Ando ...

. McCarthy played primarily as a

right-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

Playing career

Originally from the

New Forest The New Forest is one of the largest remaining tracts of unenclosed pasture land, heathland and forest in Southern England, covering southwest Hampshire and southeast Wiltshire. It was proclaimed a royal forest by William the Conqueror, featu ...

area, McCarthy grew up a fan of

and is said to have wanted to join the club since he was a youngster. After playing his youth football with a number of local schools, McCarthy joined the Saints in October 1963 and signed his first professional deal with the club in November 1965; he did not make his senior debut until two years later, against

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

on 25 November 1967. With

Joe Kirkup Joseph Robert Kirkup (born 17 December 1939) is an English former professional footballer who played as a full-back in the Football League for West Ham United, Chelsea and Southampton. Playing career Kirkup played junior football with West Ha ...

the first choice at right-back, McCarthy struggled to break into the first team until the 1971–72 season, when he began to establish himself in the position and became the first choice. After Southampton's relegation 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 1974, McCarthy struggled to regain his top form due to an operation on his knee, and after making only 16 league appearances in the 1974–75 season he decided to retire from the professional game at age 26. McCarthy spent a few seasons playing for local non-league clubs Poole Town, Cowes Sports, and

before retiring from football entirely. In total, McCarthy made nearly 300 appearances for the Southampton senior and reserve teams combined, with club legend

Terry Paine Terence Lionel Paine (born 23 March 1939) is an English retired footballer. Originally from Winchester, Paine is best known for his career with Southampton, for whom he made over 800 appearances (a club record) in 18 seasons with the club. H ...

naming him in his choice for the Saints 'dream team' of his era.

Career statistics

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McCarthy, Bob 1948 births Living people People from Lyndhurst, Hampshire English men's footballers Men's association football fullbacks Southampton F.C. players Poole Town F.C. players Cowes Sports F.C. players Andover F.C. players English Football League players Footballers from Hampshire