David John Howitt (born 4 August 1952) 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 made 194 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 for

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Since 2011, the first te ...

Bury Bury may refer to: *The burial of human remains *-bury, a suffix in English placenames Places England * Bury, Cambridgeshire, a village * Bury, Greater Manchester, a town, historically in Lancashire ** Bury (UK Parliament constituency) (1832–19 ...

Workington Workington is a coastal town and civil parish at the mouth of the River Derwent on the west coast in the Allerdale borough of Cumbria, England. The town was historically in Cumberland. At the 2011 census it had a population of 25,207. Loca ...

and

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 ...

. Howitt was born in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

. When he left Hodge Hill School in 1968, he joined

as an apprentice, and turned professional two years later. At school he had played as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

, but became a full back while in Birmingham's reserves. He made his debut in the First Division on 30 August 1972 in a 2–2 draw away to

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was formed in 1878 and has pla ...

, but dropped out of consideration once Ray Martin was available again.Matthews, p. 208. He was released at the end of the 1972–73 season, and went on to play for

and

, for whom he played 137 league games. He became

player-manager A player-coach (also playing coach, captain-coach, or player-manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. A player-coach may be a head coach or an assistant coach. They may make changes to the sq ...

of Southern League Midland Division club Milton Keynes City, then played for Milton Keynes Borough and Newport Pagnell Town.

References

1952 births Living people Footballers from Birmingham, West Midlands English footballers Men's association football fullbacks Birmingham City F.C. players Bury F.C. players Workington A.F.C. players Aldershot F.C. players Milton Keynes City F.C. players Milton Keynes Borough F.C. players Newport Pagnell Town F.C. players English Football League players Southern Football League players English football managers {{England-footy-defender-1950s-stub