Geoffrey Frederick Truett (23 May 1935 – 5 January 2015) 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 winger.

Early and personal life

Geoffrey Frederick Truett was born on 23 May 1935, in

Forest Gate Forest Gate is a district in the London Borough of Newham, East London, England. It is located northeast of Charing Cross. The area's name relates to its position adjacent to Wanstead Flats, the southernmost part of Epping Forest. The town ...

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and Grea ...

. He was evacuated to Amersham, Buckinghamshire during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, and as a youth he was involved in athletics, competing in shot put and javelin. Truett was married with two children and five grandchildren.

Career

Truett began playing for

Wycombe Wanderers Wycombe Wanderers Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They play their ho ...

alongside brother

Jim Jim or JIM may refer to: * Jim (given name), a given name * Jim, a diminutive form of the given name James * Jim, a short form of the given name Jimmy * OPCW-UN Joint Investigative Mechanism * ''Jim'' (comics), a series by Jim Woodring * ''Jim ...

, scoring 63 goals in 114 appearances in all competitions between 1952 and 1957. While playing with Wycombe, Truett won the Isthmian League in 1956 and 1957, and was a runner-up in the 1957 FA Amateur Cup. Following interest from a number of professional clubs, Truett was a member of the London XI team which played in Switzerland in 1957. Truett then played in

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in Association football around the wor ...

for

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 ...

, scoring 5 goals in 38 league appearances between 1957 and 1962. He later played for

Tonbridge Tonbridge ( ) is a market town in Kent, England, on the River Medway, north of Royal Tunbridge Wells, south west of Maidstone and south east of London. In the administrative borough of Tonbridge and Malling, it had an estimated populat ...

between 1962 and 1970, where he remains the player with the record number of starts, with 517 in all competitions, the only player to have more appearances was Mark Gillham. While playing with Tonbridge, Truett won the 1965

Kent Senior Cup The Kent Senior Cup is an English football competition played between senior clubs in the county of Kent. It is administered by the Kent County Football Association. History The Kent Badge preceded the Kent Senior Cup, and was won in its three ...

, and he was twice voted as the club's Player of the Year. Truett finished his career with Hastings United, retiring in 1973 at the age of 38. Truett combined his semi-professional playing career with working as a builder.

Later life and death

After retiring as a player Truett worked as a buyer for a number of building firms in the

Croydon Croydon is a large town in south London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a local government district of Greater London. It is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater London, with an extensi ...

area. He died on 5 January 2015, aged 79, following a short illness. At the time of his death he was living in Copthorne,

West Sussex West Sussex is a county in South East England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the shire districts of Adur, Arun, Chichester, Horsham, and Mid Sussex, and the boroughs of Crawley and Worthing. Covering an ...

with his daughter, after his wife had moved into a nursing home.

References

1930s births 2015 deaths English men's footballers Wycombe Wanderers F.C. players London XI players Crystal Palace F.C. players Tonbridge Angels F.C. players Hastings United F.C. (1948) players English Football League players Men's association football wingers Footballers from Forest Gate {{England-footy-midfielder-1930s-stub