George Heyes was an English professional goalkeeper who spent a large part of his career at
Leicester City. Heyes made a total 174 Football League appearances over a 13-year professional career.
Heyes spent six seasons with the Foxes in the First Division from July 1960 to September 1966 and was back-up for World Cup Winner Gordon Banks and played a total 27 matches in league and cup competitions.
Heyes arrived at
Filbert Street at a challenging time with Banks, the England goalkeeper, in goal, Heyes still performed well when called upon. He arrived at the club from
Rochdale, his first professional club, but eventually had to leave when
Peter Shilton, then aged just 16, pushed him for his reserve team place.
Bolton-born Heyes eventually moved on to
Swansea
Swansea (; cy, Abertawe ) is a coastal city and the second-largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Swansea ( cy, links=no, Dinas a Sir Abertawe).
The city is the twenty-fifth largest in ...
, but only after Leicester delayed his move due to an injury to Banks, which saw Heyes take the number one jersey for the opening nine matches of the 1965-66 campaign. Heyes went on to play 99 times
for the Welsh club alongside Welsh footballing legends
John Charles and
Ivor Allchurch.
His switch to Wales saw him gain more regular first-team action and he actually won a Welsh Cup winner's medal in that debut campaign for the Swans. Moves to
Barrow
Barrow may refer to:
Places
England
* Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria
** Borough of Barrow-in-Furness, local authority encompassing the wider area
** Barrow and Furness (UK Parliament constituency)
* Barrow, Cheshire
* Barrow, Gloucestershire
* Barro ...
,
Bedford Town
Bedford Town Football Club is a football club based in the Borough of Bedford, England. The club are currently members of the and play at the Eyrie in Cardington, a village on the outskirts of Bedford. They are full members of the Football As ...
and
Hereford United followed.
George Heyes is father of former professional goalkeeper
Darren Heyes
Darren Heyes (born 11 January 1967) is a former English football Goalkeeper and the son of former Leicester City and Swansea City Goalkeeper, George Heyes.
He represented England at Schoolboy at under 15, 18 and Youth level appearing in the 19 ...
and grandfather to professional rugby player
Joe Heyes
Joseph Connor Rhys Heyes (born 13 April 1999) is an English professional rugby union player for Leicester Tigers in Premiership Rugby. His usual position is prop. He was a Premiership Rugby champion in 2022.
Club career
Heyes began playing r ...
who plays as tighthead prop for Leicester Tigers
References
English footballers
Year of birth missing (living people)
Living people
Footballers from Bolton
Men's association football goalkeepers
Leicester City F.C. players
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