Charles Thomas George Brodie (22 February 1937 – 24 April 2000) was a Scottish professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

who made 400 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 ...

, most notably for

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings whi ...

Aldershot Aldershot () is a town in Hampshire, England. It lies on heathland in the extreme northeast corner of the county, southwest of London. The area is administered by Rushmoor Borough Council. The town has a population of 37,131, while the Alders ...

and

Northampton Town Northampton Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Northampton, England. The team plays in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1897, the club competed in the Midland ...

. His professional career came to an end in 1970, when he was seriously injured after a dog ran onto the field of play. The dog ran into Brodie's knee after he grabbed the ball, which the dog was chasing. Brodie suffered severe ligament damage.

Career

Manchester City

Born in

Duntocher Duntocher (Scottish Gaelic: ''Dùn Tòchair'' or ''Druim Tòchair'') is a village in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland. It has an estimated population of 6,850. The etymology of the name of the village indicates that its name means "the fort on the c ...

, Brodie began his career with

Junior Junior or Juniors may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * ''Junior'' (Junior Mance album), 1959 * ''Junior'' (Röyksopp album), 2009 * ''Junior'' (Kaki King album), 2010 * ''Junior'' (LaFontaines album), 2019 Films * ''Junior'' (1994 ...

clubs Duntocher Hibernian and Partick Avondale. He joined

Manchester City Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...

of 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 ...

as an amateur in March 1954. He spent four years with the club, playing understudy to the popular German goalkeeper

Bert Trautmann Bernhard Carl "Bert" Trautmann EK OBE BVO (22 October 1923 – 19 July 2013) was a German professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper for Manchester City from 1949 to 1964. In August 1933, (aged 9), he joined the Jungvolk, the junio ...

, but failed to break into the

first team First team may refer to: Sports * First team (association football), the colloquial name given to the most senior team fielded by a football club * The First Team, the first players known to have played the sport of basketball * First Team All-A ...

and departed in July 1957.

Gillingham

Brodie dropped down the leagues to join Gillingham of the

Third Division South The Third Division South of The Football League was a tier in the English football league system from 1921 to 1958. It ran in parallel with the Third Division North with clubs elected to the League or relegated from Division Two allocated to on ...

in July 1957. He spent one season with the

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

-based club, during which he played 22 times.

Aldershot

Brodie joined

Fourth Division Fourth or the fourth may refer to: * the ordinal form of the number 4 * ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971 * Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision * Fourth (music), a musical interval * ''The Fourth'' (1972 film), a Sovie ...

club

in July 1958. At the time he was completing his

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 ...

and was stationed in the town. He remained at the

Recreation Ground A park is an area of natural, semi-natural or planted space set aside for human enjoyment and recreation or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. Urban parks are green spaces set aside for recreation inside towns and cities. N ...

until February 1961 and departed having made 106 appearances for the club.

Wolverhampton Wanderers

Brodie secured a move back to the top-flight when he joined

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...

for a then-club record £9,000 in February 1961. He played just one league match for Wolves, before departing Molineux in September 1961.

Northampton Town

Brodie dropped back down to the Third Division to join

in September 1961, for £4,000. His first appearance for the club meant that he made three consecutive appearances for three clubs. Brodie played regularly for the club for just over two years and won a Third Division championship medal during the 1962–63 season. He departed the County Ground in November 1963, having made 97 appearances for the Cobblers.

Brentford

Brodie moved to

London London is the capital and 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 down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

to join Third Division club

in November 1963 in a £10,000 deal. He quickly usurped long-standing regular goalkeeper

Gerry Cakebread Gerald Cakebread OBE (1 April 1936 – 16 September 2009) was an English footballer who made over 340 appearances in the Football League for Brentford as a goalkeeper. He remained a part-time player throughout his professional career. Cakebread ...

and was the Bees' regular goalkeeper until losing his place to Gordon Phillips during an injury-affected 1966–67 season. He regained his place in the team early in the 1970–71 season, but on 27 November 1970, a dog ran onto the field of play during a match away to

Colchester United Colchester United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Colchester, Essex, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1937, the club spent its earl ...

and impacted Brodie's leg after he had picked the ball up, damaging ligaments in his knee. Though he managed five further appearances during the second half of the season, the injury ended Brodie's professional career. Brodie departed

Griffin Park Griffin Park was a football ground in Brentford in the London Borough of Hounslow, England. It was the home ground of Brentford F.C. from its opening in September 1904 to August 2020. The ground is in a predominantly residential area and was ...

at the end of the 1970–71 season, after making 224 appearances during his eight years with the Bees. He was posthumously inducted into the Brentford

Hall of Fame A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or Wiktionary:fame, fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actu ...

in 2015.

Non-League football

In 1971 Brodie resumed playing, albeit at a semi-professional level, with Southern League Premier Division club

Margate Margate is a seaside resort, seaside town on the north coast of Kent in south-east England. The town is estimated to be 1.5 miles long, north-east of Canterbury and includes Cliftonville, Garlinge, Palm Bay, UK, Palm Bay and Westbrook, Kent, ...

. He remained with the Gate for two seasons and was in goal when the team lost 11–0 to

Bournemouth Bournemouth () is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council area of Dorset, England. At the 2011 census, the town had a population of 183,491, making it the largest town in Dorset. It is situated on the Southern ...

in an

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

match in November 1971. He later played for

Wealdstone Wealdstone () is a district located in the centre of the London Borough of Harrow, England. It is located just north of Harrow town centre and is south of Harrow Weald, west of Belmont and Kenton, and east of Headstone. The area accommodates ...

and

Maidstone United Maidstone United Football Club is a professional football club based in Maidstone, Kent, England. The team compete in the National League, at the fifth tier of the English football league system. The current club filled the void left by the ol ...

before retiring from football.

International career

Brodie represented

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

at Schoolboy and Junior level.

Personal life

Prior to becoming a professional footballer, Brodie served a five-year apprenticeship in

electrical engineering Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems which use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the l ...

. In his latter years as a professional footballer, Brodie became a London taxi driver and as of September 1995 was living in

Southall Southall () is a large suburban county of West London, England, part of the London Borough of Ealing and is one of its seven major towns. It is situated west of Charing Cross and had a population of 69,857 as of 2011. It is generally divided ...

. He died in 2000 at the age of 63, after suffering with

prostate cancer Prostate cancer is cancer of the prostate. Prostate cancer is the second most common cancerous tumor worldwide and is the fifth leading cause of cancer-related mortality among men. The prostate is a gland in the male reproductive system that sur ...

Career statistics

Honours

Northampton Town *

Football League Fourth Division 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 ...

: 1962–63 Brentford *

London Challenge Cup The London Challenge Cup was a football tournament formerly organised by the London FA. It was first contested in 1908, and other than during the World Wars, was contested every season until 1974, when the tournament was disbanded. After a 16-ye ...

: 1966–67 Individual * Brentford Supporters' Player of the Year (2): 1964–65, 1965–66 * Brentford Players' Player of the Year (1): 1969–70 * Brentford Hall of Fame

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brodie, Chic 1937 births 2000 deaths Scottish footballers Manchester City F.C. players Gillingham F.C. players Aldershot F.C. players Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. players Northampton Town F.C. players Brentford F.C. players Margate F.C. players Wealdstone F.C. players Footballers from West Dunbartonshire Association football goalkeepers English Football League players Southern Football League players Maidstone United F.C. (1897) players Deaths from prostate cancer Scotland youth international footballers Scotland junior international footballers Duntocher Hibernian F.C. players Deaths from cancer in England