Charlie Palmer (born 10 July 1963) is an English ex-professional footballer who played in the 1980s and 90s for a variety of clubs in England at

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 ...

and latterly centre-back.

Playing career

Born in Aylesbury, Palmer started his football career as an apprentice at

Watford Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, and ...

, managed by

Graham Taylor Graham Taylor (15 September 1944 – 12 January 2017) was an English football player, manager, pundit and chairman of Watford Football Club. He was the manager of the England national football team from 1990 to 1993, and also managed Lincoln C ...

. He played 18 matches for Watford in all competitions between 1981 and 1984, including four in the

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, clay ...

. In July 1984, Palmer moved to

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group. Founded in 188 ...

on a free transfer. Under the management of Arthur Cox, he was part of the team that won the Football League

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 the 1986–87 season. However, before the end of that season, Palmer moved to

Hull City Hull City Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, that compete in the . They have played home games at the MKM Stadium since moving from Boothferry Park in 2002. The club's t ...

, for a transfer fee of £30,000. After a two-year stay in Hull, he moved to

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 ...

, under the management of Neil Warnock. The next few years had journeys to

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 2002 to 2003. The stadium ...

to play in consecutive playoff finals, winning both. Then an Anglo-Italian Cup Final against

Brescia Brescia (, locally ; lmo, link=no, label= Lombard, Brèsa ; lat, Brixia; vec, Bressa) is a city and ''comune'' in the region of Lombardy, Northern Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, a few kilometers from the lakes Garda and Iseo ...

, led by

Gheorghe Hagi Gheorghe "Gică" Hagi (; born 5 February 1965) is a Romanian professional football manager and former player, who is currently the owner and manager of Liga I club Farul Constanța. Deployed as an attacking midfielder, Hagi was considered one of ...

. During this time at Notts, Charlie Palmer is probably best remembered for the winning goal against city rivals

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...

in the local derby. Palmer moved on to

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre in the West Midlands County, England. Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located north-west of Birmingham, east of Wolverhampton and from Lichfield. Walsall is th ...

in 1994, before moving on to non-League clubs

Burton Albion Burton Albion Football Club is a professional association football club in the town of Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club moved its home grou ...

Moor Green Moor Green is a historic home located near Brentsville, Prince William County, Virginia. It dates to the early-19th century, and is a two-story, five-bay, Federal style brick residence, with a one-room, two-story ell. It has a standing seam me ...

and Hinckley United.

Coaching career

Since finishing playing, Palmer has coached Hinckley United in the

Conference North The National League North, formerly Conference North, is a division of the National League in England, immediately below the National League division. Along with the National League South, it is at the second level of the National League Syst ...

under the management of ex-Notts colleague Dean Thomas, and was later assistant manager at Mickleover Sports, where he was briefly caretaker manager during the 2012–13 season. On 14 April 2013 Palmer took over as manager of Northern Counties East Premier Division club Long Eaton United, replacing former Notts County player Mick Galloway who left the club in March 2013. He remained at Long Eaton until October 2015 when he took over as manager at Belper Town.Former Derby County defender Charlie Palmer is new Belper Town manager
Derby Telegraph, 8 October 2015 He resigned as manager at the end of the 2016–17 season.Charlie Palmer resigns from Belper Town
Belper News, 25 May 2017

Honours

;Walsall *

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 th ...

runner-up: 1994–95

References

External links

Charlie Palmer career statistics
On Cloud Seven {{DEFAULTSORT:Palmer, Charlie 1963 births Living people Sportspeople from Aylesbury English men's footballers Watford F.C. players Derby County F.C. players Hull City A.F.C. players Notts County F.C. players Walsall F.C. players Burton Albion F.C. players Moor Green F.C. players Hinckley United F.C. players English Football League players English football managers Mickleover F.C. managers Long Eaton United F.C. managers Belper Town F.C. managers Men's association football defenders Footballers from Buckinghamshire