Robert Laverick (born 11 June 1938) is an English 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 scored 26 goals from 96 appearances in

the 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 ...

playing on the

left wing Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soci ...

for Chelsea, Everton, Brighton & Hove Albion and

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Coventry, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. The team currently compete in the EFL Championship, Championship, the second tier of the English footbal ...

. Laverick was born in Castle Eden,

County Durham County Durham ( ), officially simply Durham,UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. is a ceremonial county in North East England.North East Assembly �About North East E ...

. He joined Chelsea's youth set–up in 1953 and was part of their 1954–55 South East Counties Youth League winning and

FA Youth Cup The Football Association Youth Challenge Cup is an English football competition run by The Football Association for under-18 sides. Only those players between the age of 15 and 18 on 31 August of the current season are eligible to take part. It ...

semi-final teams. In November 1954 he played one match for the England Youth team, scoring against the Netherlands. Laverick played seven matches in the

Football League First Division The Football League First Division was a division of the Football League in England from 1888 until 2004. It was the top division in the English football league system from the season 1888–89 until 1991–92, a century in which the First ...

for Chelsea in 1957, but his progress was interrupted by two years

National Service National service is the system of voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act 1939. The l ...

in the

Royal Army Medical Corps The Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) is a specialist corps in the British Army which provides medical services to all Army personnel and their families, in war and in peace. The RAMC, the Royal Army Veterinary Corps, the Royal Army Dental Corps a ...

. He failed to establish himself in the Chelsea first team and in February 1959 just prior to the end of his National Service Laverick was signed by First Division club Everton for a sizeable £6,000 transfer fee. He scored on his debut for the 'Toffees' and played eleven of the last thirteen matches of the 1958–59 season scoring five goals. In July 1959 he underwent an emergency

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operation which delayed his start to the 1959–60 season. After his convalescence he played eleven league matches in the second quarter of the season, scoring one goal – but thereafter didn't play any further league matches for the Everton first team. In August 1960 Laverick joined

Football League Second Division The Football League Second Division was the second level division in the English football league system between 1892 and 1992. Following the foundation of the FA Premier League, the Football League divisions were renumbered and the third ti ...

club Brighton with a £7,000 transfer fee being paid by the 'Seagulls'. In the 1961–62 season, in which Brighton were relegated, he was Brighton's joint-top scorer (alongside Johnny Goodchild and

Tony Nicholas Anthony Wallace Long Nicholas (16 April 1938 – 25 September 2005) was an English professional footballer who scored 42 goals from 133 appearances in the Football League playing as an inside forward for Chelsea, Brighton & Hove Albion and L ...

), with 10 goals in all competitions. Laverick moved on in the summer of 1962 to Coventry City, then of the

Football League Third Division The Football League Third Division was the third tier of the English football league system in 1920–21 and again from 1958 until 1992. When the FA Premier League was formed, the division become the fourth tier level. In 2004, following the f ...

, who paid a £2,500 transfer fee for him. He played only 4 league matches for the 'Sky Blues' and having lost his first team spot requested a transfer. This resulted in March 1962 in his move for a small fee into

non-League football Non-League football describes football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is specifically used to de ...

with Southern League second tier Division 1 club

Corby Town Corby Town Football Club is a football club based in Corby, Northamptonshire, England. They are currently members of the and play at Steel Park. History The club was established in 1948, taking over from Stewarts & Lloyds as the main team i ...

. After eighteen months with the 'Steelmen', early in the 1964–65 season Laverick was on the move again and in a player exchange deal moved to Southern League Premier Division club

King's Lynn King's Lynn, known until 1537 as Bishop's Lynn and colloquially as Lynn, is a port and market town in the borough of King's Lynn and West Norfolk in the county of Norfolk, England. It is located north of London, north-east of Peterborough, no ...

. He was now playing as a striker/inside forward rather than as a winger and scored 79 goals from a total of 209 matches for the 'Linnets' (and was top scorer in the 1966–1967 season). In December 1967 he left King's Lynn and returned to his native North East and joined, for a transfer fee,

North Regional League The North Regional League was a football competition in Northern England. The League was formed in 1958 as a reserve league for Football League teams in the North of England. After being formed with 19 members, and reaching a maximum of 22 tea ...

club

South Shields South Shields () is a coastal town in South Tyneside, Tyne and Wear, England. It is on the south bank of the mouth of the River Tyne. Historically, it was known in Roman times as Arbeia, and as Caer Urfa by Early Middle Ages. According to the 20 ...

. Laverick's next club, which he joined on a free transfer six months later in June 1968, was Southern League second tier Division 1 club Ashford Town who were managed by his one–time Chelsea team-mate

Peter Sillett Richard Peter Tudor Sillett (1 February 1933 – 13 March 1998) was an English footballer. He played for Chelsea and Southampton as a right-back, and made three appearances for England. He was the older brother of John Sillett, who managed Cove ...

. He was with the 'Nuts and Bolts' for two seasons during each of which he was the clubs leading scorer notching 58 goals in a total of 121 matches. In the latter of the two seasons, 1969–70, Laverick's 22 league goals helped the club secure promotion. On leaving Ashford, for the 1970–71 season he initially signed–on with Southern League Division 1 club

Ramsgate Ramsgate is a seaside resort, seaside town in the district of Thanet District, Thanet in east Kent, England. It was one of the great English seaside towns of the 19th century. In 2001 it had a population of about 40,000. In 2011, according to t ...

but after a couple of months there he moved on to fellow Southern League Division 1 side

Tonbridge Tonbridge ( ) is a market town in Kent, England, on the River Medway, north of Royal Tunbridge Wells, south west of Maidstone and south east of London. In the administrative borough of Tonbridge and Malling, it had an estimated population ...

. August 1971 saw Laverick return to Ashford in the role of the Reserve Team captain, for whom he now played as a defender in their Kent League campaign. The team were runners–up in the 1972 Kent League Cup and additionally he turned-out several times for Ashford's Southern League Division 1 first team. A year later at the commencement of the 1972–73 season Laverick was appointed player/manager of Snowdown Colliery Welfare who were restarting their Kent League team from scratch. In February 1973 citing difficulties with travelling to training he resigned from the 'Colliers' and took on the coaching role with the Kent League Ashford Town Reserve team – playing once again a few matches in emergency for the Southern League Ashford first team. For the 1977–78 season Laverick took the assistant managers role with Southern League Division 1 South club Canterbury City and additionally, at the age of 39, to alleviate player shortage played for the club.

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* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Laverick, Bobby 1938 births Living people Footballers from County Durham English men's footballers Men's association football forwards Chelsea F.C. players Everton F.C. players Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. players Coventry City F.C. players Nuneaton Town F.C. players Corby Town F.C. players King's Lynn F.C. players Gateshead United F.C. players Ashford United F.C. players Ramsgate F.C. players Tonbridge Angels F.C. players English Football League players Southern Football League players 20th-century British Army personnel Royal Army Medical Corps soldiers