Derek Christopher Bellotti (born 25 December 1946) is an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

retired 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 as a

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 ...

Career

Derek Bellotti began his career as an apprentice with

Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England, which compete in the . After a nomadic early existence, they have played home matches at Loftus Ro ...

in September 1963.Swanseacity
accessed 08/01/08 He turned professional and spent two seasons on loan to Bedford Town before being released at end of the 1965–66 season without making his debut for QPR. He joined Gillingham in July 1966 and went on to make 35 league appearances for the Gills. In October 1970 he joined

Southend United Southend United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of English football. Southend are known as ...

on loan, playing 3 games and later that month was transferred to

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, south-east London, which compete in . Their home ground is The Valley, where the club have played since 1919. They have also played at The Mount in C ...

for a fee of £5,000.Charlton
accessed 08/01/08 He played 14 league games for Charlton before moving to

again in December 1971, this time on a permanent basis. He was Southend's regular 'keeper, staying at

Roots Hall A root is the part of a plant, generally underground, that anchors the plant body, and absorbs and stores water and nutrients. Root or roots may also refer to: Art, entertainment, and media * ''The Root'' (magazine), an online magazine focusing ...

until May 1974 when he joined

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 ...

after playing 74 league games for Southend. He only stayed at the

Vetch Field The Vetch Field was a football stadium in Swansea, Wales. It was used for football matches and was the home ground of Swansea City until the club moved to the newly built Liberty Stadium in 2005. Opened in 1912, the ground held around 12,000 at ...

for one season, playing 19 times in the league, before moving back 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 Maidstone United, spending two months on loan at

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, ...

from January 1978. Later that year, his career outside football took him to live in Abbotskerswell, Devon and he signed for Cornish non-league side

St Blazey St Blazey ( kw, Lanndreth) is a small town in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. St Blaise is the civil parish in which St Blazey is situated; the name St Blaise is also used by the town council. The village of Biscovey and the settlements of ...

from where he signed for

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 October 1979 as cover for John Turner and later for

Vince O'Keefe James Vincent O'Keefe (born 2 April 1957) is an English former professional footballer. He played as a goalkeeper for a number of Football League clubs between 1974 and 1993, making over 400 appearances. Blackpool O'Keefe had two loan stints a ...

. When Torquay scrapped their reserve team in 1982, he left without making a league appearance, joining

Falmouth Town Falmouth Town Association Football Club is a football club based in Falmouth, Cornwall, United Kingdom. They are currently members of the and play at Bickland Park. The club were the first Cornish team to reach the first round proper of the F ...

. He subsequently played for

Bideford Bideford ( ) is a historic port town on the estuary of the River Torridge in north Devon, south-west England. It is the main town of the Torridge local government district. Toponymy In ancient records Bideford is recorded as ''Bedeford'', ''By ...

, Saltash United,

Newquay Newquay ( ; kw, Tewynblustri) is a town on the north coast in Cornwall, in the south west of England. It is a civil parish, seaside resort, regional centre for aerospace industries, spaceport and a fishing port on the North Atlantic coast of ...

, and Torrington. In December 1997, at the age of 50, he played for Ilfracombe Town as a temporary replacement for regular 'Combe goalkeeper, his son

Ross Ross or ROSS may refer to: People * Clan Ross, a Highland Scottish clan * Ross (name), including a list of people with the surname or given name Ross, as well as the meaning * Earl of Ross, a peerage of Scotland Places * RoSS, the Republic of Sou ...

, who was also a professional with

Exeter City Exeter City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Exeter, Devon, England. The team play in , the third tier of the English football league system. Known as "the Grecians", the origin of their nickname is subject to ...

. Bellotti is currently managing director of Kingfisher Print and Design, a print firm based in

Dartington Dartington is a village in Devon, England. Its population is 876. The electoral ward of ''Dartington'' includes the surrounding area and had a population of 1,753 at the 2011 census. It is located west of the River Dart, south of Dartington H ...

References

External links

Swanseacity

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bellotti, Derek 1946 births Living people Footballers from East Ham English men's footballers Gillingham F.C. players Bedford Town F.C. players Southend United F.C. players Charlton Athletic F.C. players English people of Italian descent Swansea City A.F.C. players Torquay United F.C. players Maidstone United F.C. players Margate F.C. players St Blazey A.F.C. players Ilfracombe Town A.F.C. players Newquay A.F.C. players Torrington F.C. players Bideford A.F.C. players Falmouth Town A.F.C. players Saltash United F.C. players Men's association football goalkeepers