Duncan Welbourne (28 July 1940 – 14 January 2019) was an English professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

player, coach and manager.

Early life

Born in

Scunthorpe Scunthorpe () is an industrial town and unparished area in the unitary authority of North Lincolnshire in Lincolnshire, England of which it is the main administrative centre. Scunthorpe had an estimated total population of 82,334 in 2016. A pre ...

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-west, Leicestershire ...

, he began his career as an amateur at

Scunthorpe United Scunthorpe United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, England. The side currently competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The tea ...

. He started his professional career at

Grimsby Grimsby or Great Grimsby is a port town and the administrative centre of North East Lincolnshire, Lincolnshire, England. Grimsby adjoins the town of Cleethorpes directly to the south-east forming a conurbation. Grimsby is north-east of Linco ...

, as a wing half. In November 1963 he transferred to

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, a ...

, for a fee of £1,300. At Watford he converted to a full back, when the club started playing in a 4–4–2 formation. Welbourne set what was then a Watford record of 457 competitive appearances, breaking the 35-year-old record previously held by Tommy Barnett. His 280 consecutive

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 ...

games remains a record. After finishing third in the club's inaugural Player of the Season award in 1972–73, Welbourne left Watford on a free transfer at the end of the 1973–74 season. He joined Southport, where he finished his playing career. He also took on a coaching role, and managed the team between September 1975 and January 1976. Welbourne died on the morning of 14 January 2019, as confirmed by Watford He won a Division Three championship medal; a fourth-place FA Cup medal but his most treasured possession was a testimonial present of a gold disc awarded for the song '' Goodbye Yellow Brick Road'', presented by

Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, pianist and composer. Commonly nicknamed the "Rocket Man" after his 1972 hit single of the same name, John has led a commercially successful career a ...

, then director, with the inscription: "To Duncan: something to keep you close to Watfordand myself."

References

1940 births 2019 deaths Scunthorpe United F.C. players Grimsby Town F.C. players Watford F.C. players Southport F.C. players Southport F.C. managers English Football League players Sportspeople from Scunthorpe Association football fullbacks English footballers English football managers {{England-footy-manager-stub