Eric Winstanley (15 November 1944 – 20 May 2021) 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 ...

who played as a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

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 ...

for

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. As the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. In Barnsley, the population was 96,888 while the wider Borough has ...

and

Chesterfield Chesterfield may refer to: Places Canada * Rural Municipality of Chesterfield No. 261, Saskatchewan * Chesterfield Inlet, Nunavut United Kingdom * Chesterfield, Derbyshire, a market town in England ** Chesterfield (UK Parliament constitue ...

Early life

Eric Winstanley was born on 15 November 1944 in

, West Riding of Yorkshire.

Playing career

Winstanley started his career with

after signing a professional contract in May 1962, where he later became

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

. He made 410 league appearances for Barnsley and has been described as a "club legend". He joined

in August 1973. Winstanley made five appearances for the England national under-18 team from 1962 to 1963.

Coaching career

Winstanley spent over 20 years on the coaching staff at Barnsley, but left in June 2001, which ended a 34-year association with the club. He had two spells as

caretaker manager In association footballing terms, a caretaker manager or interim manager is somebody who takes temporary charge of the management of a football team, usually when the regular Manager (association football), manager is dismissed or leaves for a ...

during this time. He was given a

testimonial match A testimonial match or testimonial game, often referred to simply as a testimonial, is a practice in some sports, particularly in association football in the United Kingdom and South America, where a club has a match to honour a player for servic ...

by the club in November 2001 against

Manchester United 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 City of Salford, Salford to ...

, which Barnsley won 1–0. Winstanley became technical director of the Saint Kitts and Nevis national team in 2001, before leaving in February 2004. He worked as youth-team coach at

Doncaster Rovers Doncaster Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The team compete in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club play their home games at ...

during the 2004–05 season. Winstanley was brought into the

Scarborough Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to: People * Scarborough (surname) * Earl of Scarbrough Places Australia * Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth * Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong * Scarborough, Queensland, su ...

coaching staff as assistant manager in October 2005. He left the position in July 2006 following Mark Patterson's arrival onto the coaching staff and became the

York City York City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of York, North Yorkshire, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team compete in the National League, at the fifth tier of the English football league sys ...

head of youth development in October. He worked in this role along with being Colin Walker's assistant since November 2007 until being appointed head coach following

Neil Redfearn Neil David Redfearn (born 20 June 1965) is an English former professional footballer who played as a midfielder, who was most recently head coach of Sheffield United Women. Redfearn played 790 matches in the Football League, the sixth highest ...

's arrival as youth-team coach in February 2008. He was dismissed as head coach alongside manager Walker on 21 November 2008. He joined South African team SuperSport United as technical director of the club's development wing in October 2009.

Death

Winstanley died on 20 May 2021 aged 76.

Career statistics

Managerial statistics

Honours

Individual * Barnsley Player of the Season: 1972–73

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Winstanley, Eric 1944 births 2021 deaths Footballers from Barnsley English footballers England youth international footballers Association football defenders Barnsley F.C. players Chesterfield F.C. players English Football League players English football managers Barnsley F.C. managers English Football League managers Association football coaches Barnsley F.C. non-playing staff Doncaster Rovers F.C. non-playing staff Scarborough F.C. non-playing staff York City F.C. non-playing staff