David Charles Puckett (born 29 October 1960) is a 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 played 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 ...

for

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

, and

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, which competes in the . Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, it changed its name to Stoke in 1878 and then to Stoke City in 1925 after Stoke ...

Playing career

Puckett began his career with

during the 1970s and played nearly 100 games for them in the First Division between 1978 and 1986, scoring 14 times. However, he struggled to hold down a first team place and was transferred to Third Division side

in 1986, helping them win that division's title and promotion 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 ...

a year later. During his time at Bournemouth he played on loan for

and

Swansea City Swansea City Association Football Club (; cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Cymdeithas Dinas Abertawe) is a professional football club based in Swansea, Wales that plays in the Championship, the second tier of English football. Swansea have played their ho ...

. Puckett suffered a major knee injury while playing for the

Dean Court Dean Court, currently known as the Vitality Stadium for sponsorship purposes, is a football stadium in Kings Park, Boscombe, a suburb of Bournemouth, Dorset, England and the home ground of AFC Bournemouth. History In 1910, Boscombe F.C. was gi ...

side and was loaned to

in the 1988–89 season, scoring a hat-trick on his Third Division debut for the club, and was soon signed on a permanent basis, but was unable to save the Shots from relegation. He made a total of 113 appearances for

in the league, scoring 50 goals, before returning to Bournemouth during the 1991–92 season, a few weeks before Aldershot went out of business and left

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 ...

. The return to Bournemouth was Puckett's final contribution to senior football, as he made just four appearances for the club before hanging up his boots in professional football during 1992. In 2011 Puckett signed for

Wessex League The Wessex Football League is an English association football league formed in 1986, with its premier division currently at the fifth step of the National League System, or the ninth tier of the overall English football league system. The par ...

club Lymington Town and on 26 November 2011 scored to become the league's oldest ever goalscorer at the age of 51. He later broke this record while playing for Totton & Eling when scoring at the age of 53 in February 2014. He made fifteen league appearances for Totton & Eling, scoring one goal. On 21 May 2014 Puckett played a 4th division game in Iceland for Hvíti Riddarinn (The White Knights). Puckett was substituted in to the game in the 66th minute along with his son Bill who is one of two coaches of the team. The Knights won the game 2–0.

Coaching career

In July 2003, Puckett returned to

as coach to the Saints academy, working with seven to 12-year-olds. He is currently the Assistant Academy Manager, working with 12- to 16-year-olds.

Career statistics

Source: :A. The "Other" column constitutes appearances and goals in the

Football League Trophy The English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship purposes as the Papa Johns Trophy after restaurant chain Papa John's Pizza, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL Leag ...

Full Members Cup The Full Members' Cup was an association football cup competition held in English football from 1985 to 1992. It was also known under its sponsored names of the Simod Cup from 1987 to 1989 and the Zenith Data Systems Cup from 1989 to 1992. The ...

and Screen Sport Super Cup.

Honours

Southampton *

Football League Division 1 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 Di ...

Runners-up: 1983–84 Woking *

FA Trophy The Football Association Challenge Trophy, commonly known as the FA Trophy, is a men's football knockout cup competition run by and named after the English Football Association and competed for primarily by semi-professional teams. The compet ...

: 1993–94 Lymington Town *Oldest goalscorer in the

Premier Division.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Puckett, David 1960 births Footballers from Southampton English men's footballers Stoke City F.C. players Southampton F.C. players Swansea City A.F.C. players Aldershot F.C. players AFC Bournemouth players Woking F.C. players Lymington Town F.C. players English Football League players Living people Totton & Eling F.C. players Men's association football forwards Southampton F.C. non-playing staff Association football coaches