David Christopher West (born 16 November 1964 in Dorchester) 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 ...

. West played for Westwey Dynamoes before joining Weymouth as a junior. He progressed to the youth set-up at

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 ...

before joining the youth system at

Dorchester Town Dorchester Town Football Club are a semi-professional football club, based in Dorchester, Dorset, England. They currently play in the . The club is affiliated to the Dorset County Football Association and is a FA chartered Standard club. They ...

. He played for Dorchester YMCA and the England Under-18 team before graduating into Dorchester Town's first team. He was signed by

Bob Paisley Robert Paisley OBE (23 January 1919 – 14 February 1996) was an English professional football manager and player who played as a wing-half. He spent almost 50 years with Liverpool and is regarded, due to his achievements with the club, ...

for Liverpool in 1983 for a fee of £15,000. He played on a pre-season tour of the Netherlands, but had to settle for reserve team football in the Central League, although he did twice make the bench in the

European Cup The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...

. Disillusioned with reserve team football he asked new Liverpool manager Joe Fagan if he could go out on loan. Fagan's response was to release him. He had a trial with

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England, which compete in the , the second tier of English football. They have played their home games at Ashton Gate since moving from St John's Lane in 1904. The ...

before joining

Torquay United Torquay United Football Club is a professional football club based in Torquay, Devon, England. The team currently compete in the , the fifth tier of English football. They have played their home matches at Plainmoor since 1921 and are nicknamed ...

in September 1985, making his debut on 14 September in a 3–0

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 ...

defeat at home to Chester City. He played 21 times in Torquay's struggling side before being released after Torquay had finished bottom of the league at the end of the season. He had a trial with a Belgian league side and was offered a contract, but chose to drop 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

Cheltenham Town Cheltenham Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. From the 2021–22 season, the club compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league syst ...

. In December 1986, while driving home to Weymouth from

Cheltenham Cheltenham (), also known as Cheltenham Spa, is a spa town and borough on the edge of the Cotswolds in the county of Gloucestershire, England. Cheltenham became known as a health and holiday spa town resort, following the discovery of mineral s ...

, he was involved in a head-on collision with a milk tanker and suffered a number of injuries. On resuming his football career, he played for Dorchester Town, Bashley and Fareham Town before retiring at the age of just 27 years to concentrate on his new career as an estate agent. West is currently in employment with the estate agent chain Symonds And Sampson and works in the Poundbury branch.

References

External links

Profile at LFChistory.net
{{DEFAULTSORT:West, David English men's footballers Liverpool F.C. players Torquay United F.C. players Cheltenham Town F.C. players Dorchester Town F.C. players Sportspeople from Dorchester, Dorset 1964 births Living people Bashley F.C. players Fareham Town F.C. players Men's association football forwards Footballers from Dorset