Eric Binns (13 August 1924 – 20 September 2007) was an English 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 defender. During his career he played for

Halifax Town FC Halifax Town is a professional association football club based in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England. They currently compete in and play at the Shay. They replaced Halifax Town A.F.C., which went into administration in the 2007–08 season. ...

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Bru ...

and

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. T ...

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 ...

and also had spells 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 ...

Career

Born in

Halifax, West Yorkshire Halifax () is a minster and market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Calderdale in West Yorkshire, England. It is the commercial, cultural and administrative centre of the borough, and the headquarters of Calderdale Council. In the 15th cen ...

, Binns started his footballing career as an amateur with

Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The team have played home games at the Kirklees Stadium since moving from Leeds Road in 1994. The ...

before joining his home-town club

in May 1946. He scored one goal in six league matches for the club but was released at the end of the 1946–47 campaign. Binns subsequently moved into non-league football with

Goole Town Goole Association Football Club is a semi-professional football club in Goole, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. They are currently members of the and play at the Victoria Pleasure Grounds. History The club was established by Mike Norman i ...

but returned to the professional game two years later after being offered a contract by

Football League First Division 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 ...

side

following a successful trial period. He spent the first three years of his Burnley career playing solely in the club's reserve team, unable to displace first-team centre-half

Tommy Cummings Thomas Smith Cummings (12 September 1928 – 12 July 2009) was an English football player and manager. Cummings was born in Sunderland, County Durham and started his football career at Hylton Colliery Juniors. Such was his quality as a centr ...

from his position. Binns eventually made his first-team debut for the Lancashire club on 15 November 1952, deputising for the injured

Jock Aird John Rae Aird (18 December 1926 – 14 June 2021) was a footballer who played for both the Scotland and New Zealand national sides. Life and career Born in Glencraig, Fife, Aird started his professional career with Burnley, whom he joined fr ...

at right-back in the 1–0 home win over

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 played twice more during the 1952–53 campaign, but remained primarily a reserve player during the remainder of his time with the club, appearing only when either Cummings or Aird were unavailable. In total, Binns played 15 matches in the Football League for Burnley in six seasons before transferring to local rivals

in May 1955. He spent two years with the Ewood Park club, playing 23 league matches during that time. Binns moved into non-league football with

Runcorn Runcorn is an industrial town and cargo port in the Borough of Halton in Cheshire, England. Its population in 2011 was 61,789. The town is in the southeast of the Liverpool City Region, with Liverpool to the northwest across the River Mersey. ...

in 1957 before retiring from the sport the following year. After his retirement from football, Binns worked as a salesman and in 1977 he was appointed as the steward of

Burnley Cricket Club Burnley Cricket Club is a cricket club in the Lancashire League (cricket), Lancashire League based at Turf Moor in Burnley, Lancashire. The club was a founder member of the Lancashire League in 1892 and has won the Lancashire League (cricket)#1 ...

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Binns, Eric 1924 births 2007 deaths Footballers from Halifax, West Yorkshire English men's footballers Men's association football defenders Halifax Town A.F.C. players Goole Town F.C. players Burnley F.C. players Blackburn Rovers F.C. players Runcorn F.C. Halton players English Football League players