Derek Kevan
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Derek Tennyson Kevan (6 March 1935 – 4 January 2013) was an English
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 ...
. He spent the majority of his club career playing as a
centre-forward Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...
for
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 ...
, where he earned the nickname "The Tank". In 1961–62 he was joint leading scorer in
Division One 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 ...
– alongside
Ray Crawford Ray Crawford (October 26, 1915 – February 1, 1996) was an American fighter ace, test pilot, race-car driver and businessman. Biography Born in Roswell, New Mexico, Crawford served as a U.S. Army Air Corps fighter pilot and flew the P-3 ...
of
Ipswich Town Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. They play in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in 1878 but did not turn profession ...
– with 33 goals. He also won 14
caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...
for the England national team, scoring a total of eight goals, including two in the
1958 FIFA World Cup The 1958 FIFA World Cup was the sixth FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams, and was played in Sweden from 8 to 29 June 1958. It was the first FIFA World Cup to be played in a Nordic country. Brazil be ...
Finals.


Club career

Kevan was born in
Ripon Ripon () is a cathedral city in the Borough of Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England. The city is located at the confluence of two tributaries of the River Ure, the Laver and Skell. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, the city ...
. His father Albert, formerly an officer in the Royal Marines, worked as a
pipe-layer A pipelayer (or pipe-layer or drain layer) is a skilled tradesman who lays pipe, such as for storm sewers, sanitary sewers, drains, and water mains.Bradford Park Avenue Bradford (Park Avenue) Association Football Club is an association football club based in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. The team compete in , at the sixth tier of the English football league system. The name derived from their former hom ...
. Kevan was the first signing made by the former
Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...
full-back
Vic Buckingham Victor Frederick Buckingham (23 October 1915 – 26 January 1995) was an English association football, football player and manager. He played for the then second division side Tottenham Hotspur F.C., Tottenham Hotspur. As manager he won the 195 ...
after he had taken over from
Jesse Carver Jesse Carver (7 July 1911 – 29 November 2003) was an English footballer, best remembered for his enlightened management of some of Europe's finest clubs. Club career Carver started out in football as a player, joining Blackburn Rovers as an ...
as manager of West Bromwich Albion in February 1953. Signed for £2,000, Kevan completed his
National Service National service is the system of voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act 1939. The l ...
in the Army before establishing himself full-time at
The Hawthorns The Hawthorns is an all-seater association football, football stadium in West Bromwich, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England, with a capacity of 26,688. It has been the home of EFL Championship, Championship club West Bromwich Albion F ...
. Coached by the club's former striker W.G. Richardson, Kevan had to wait until August 1955 to make his West Bromwich Albion League debut, a 2–0 home win over Everton in which he scored twice after being selected in place of the injured
Ronnie Allen Ronald Allen (15 January 1929 – 9 June 2001) was an English international football player and manager. He was a professional footballer for nineteen years, between 1946 and 1964, making 638 appearances in the Football League, and scoring 27 ...
. He became a regular in the first team during the 1956–57 season, and his committed and powerful style of play earned him the nickname "The Tank" from the Albion supporters. Kevan scored 20 goals in the 1956–57 season, which included a run to the FA Cup semi-finals where Albion lost to
Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park ...
. He scored 80 goals over the next three seasons – 23 in 1957–58, 28 in 1958–59 and 29 in 1959–60, including five in a 6–2 home League win over Everton. He added 18 in 1960–61 and then claimed 33 League goals the following season, when he finished joint top scorer in the First Division with Ipswich Town's
Ray Crawford Ray Crawford (October 26, 1915 – February 1, 1996) was an American fighter ace, test pilot, race-car driver and businessman. Biography Born in Roswell, New Mexico, Crawford served as a U.S. Army Air Corps fighter pilot and flew the P-3 ...
. This remains the highest post-war League total by an Albion player. In March 1963, after scoring 16 goals in 28 appearances that season, including four against
Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandsworth ...
, Kevan was transferred to
Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...
for £50,000. In a decade at Albion, he had scored 173 goals in 291 games. His spell at
Stamford Bridge Stamford Bridge may refer to: * Stamford Bridge, East Riding of Yorkshire, a village in England ** Battle of Stamford Bridge, 25 September 1066 * Stamford Bridge (bridge), a bridge in the village of Stamford Bridge * Stamford Bridge (stadium), in L ...
under
Tommy Docherty Thomas Henderson Docherty (24 April 1928 – 31 December 2020), commonly known as The Doc, was a Scottish football player and manager. Docherty played for several clubs, most notably Preston North End, and represented Scotland 25 times betwe ...
was short and unsuccessful, and in the close season of the same year he moved to
Manchester City Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...
for £35,000 just after their relegation to the Second Division. Kevan made his Manchester City debut on the opening day of the 1963–64 season against
Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...
, and scored his first goal for the club four days later, at
Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...
. Following the arrival of Jimmy Murray from
Wolves The wolf (''Canis lupus''; plural, : wolves), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large Canis, canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of Canis lupus, subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been reco ...
in November, he and Kevan formed a productive strike partnership. From late November to the end of December, Kevan scored in eight consecutive matches. This included a run of six league games in which Murray and Kevan scored 21 goals between them. Kevan's goals also helped Manchester City to the semi-finals of the League Cup, a run in which Kevan scored in every round. Kevan finished the season as the club's leading goalscorer with 36 goals, 30 of them in the league, although City missed out on promotion. Kevan continued to score regularly in the 1964–65 season. His goals included a first half hat-trick at
Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional football club in Preston, Lancashire, England, who currently play in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league syste ...
. However, his season was curtailed when he suffered a knee injury in a match at
Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group. Founded in 1884 ...
on 30 January. This proved to be his last match for the club, who again missed out on promotion, and on 29 July 1965 he moved to
Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building * ...
. In total Kevan scored 56 goals in all competitions in 76 appearances for the
Maine Road Maine Road was a football stadium in Moss Side, Manchester, England, that was home to Manchester City F.C. from 1923 to 2003. It hosted FA Cup semi-finals, the Charity Shield, a League Cup final and England matches. Maine Road's highest atte ...
club. Brief spells at several lower league clubs followed. At Crystal Palace he made 21 League appearances and scored five goals before moving to
Peterborough United Peterborough United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Peterborough have a long-standing ...
in March 1966, and then
Luton Town Luton Town Football Club () is a professional association football club based in the town of Luton, Bedfordshire, England, that competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1885, it is nicknam ...
. In March 1967, Kevan joined
Stockport County Stockport County Football Club are a professional association football, football club in Stockport, England, who compete in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1883 as Heaton Norris Rovers, they wer ...
, in an exchange deal involving Keith Allen. At Stockport, he gained the first medal of his career, the
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 ...
title in 1967. After winding down his career in
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 ...
, he was the landlord of the
Moss Rose Moss Rose, known as The Leasing.com Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a football stadium in Macclesfield, Cheshire, England, which is the home ground of Macclesfield F.C., and the former home of Macclesfield Town F.C., Macclesfield Town, a clu ...
pub, adjacent to
Macclesfield Town Macclesfield Town Football Club was an English professional association football, football club based in Macclesfield, Cheshire, that was liquidation, wound-up after a High Court of Justice, High Court ruling on 16 September 2020. Initially kno ...
's ground of the same name. He also worked as a delivery driver before returning to The Hawthorns in 1983 to work as a lottery agent as well as playing for the Albion All Stars charity team, which he later managed. Kevan died on 4 January 2013 aged 77, leaving a wife, Connie. In tribute to Kevan, West Bromwich Albion players wore black armbands for their FA Cup match the day after his death.


International career

Kevan scored eight goals in 14 appearances for
England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
. He scored on his debut against
Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
at
Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in north-west Londo ...
in a 2–1 win in April 1957, and netted twice in the 1958 World Cup Finals in Sweden, against the
Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
and
Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
, after he was selected for the squad in preference to
Brian Clough Brian Howard Clough ( ; 21 March 1935 – 20 September 2004) was an English football player and manager, primarily known for his successes as a manager with Derby County and Nottingham Forest. He is one of four managers to have won the Englis ...
. His last England appearance came against
Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
in 1961. He also gained under-23 honours and netted a hat-trick for 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 ...
against the
Scottish League The Scottish Football League (SFL) was a league featuring professional and semi-professional association football, football clubs mostly from Scotland.One club, Berwick Rangers F.C., Berwick Rangers, is based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, wh ...
in 1958.


References


External links

*
Englandstats.com profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kevan, Derek 1935 births 2013 deaths People from Ripon English footballers England international footballers England under-23 international footballers Association football forwards Bradford (Park Avenue) A.F.C. players West Bromwich Albion F.C. players Chelsea F.C. players Manchester City F.C. players Crystal Palace F.C. players Peterborough United F.C. players Luton Town F.C. players Stockport County F.C. players Macclesfield Town F.C. players Boston United F.C. players Stourbridge F.C. players 1958 FIFA World Cup players 1962 FIFA World Cup players English Football League players First Division/Premier League top scorers Footballers from North Yorkshire English Football League representative players