George W. Petchey (24 June 1931 – 23 December 2019) 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 ...
and manager who made 400 appearances in
the Football League for
West Ham United,
Queens Park Rangers and
Crystal Palace, playing at
wing half (defensive midfield). He was well known for being a hard tackling, midfield general or enforcer, whilst also being one of the first of his generation to play an attractive, keep ball style of play at the same time.
Playing career
Petchey was born in
Whitechapel, London. He joined West Ham in 1948 and transferred to QPR in 1953. He made his Rangers debut against Brighton in August 1953 and over the next seven seasons, played 255 league games for Rangers scoring 22 goals.
Petchey signed for
Crystal Palace in May 1960.
He went on to play 143 league games for Palace scoring 12 goals. In season 1960–61, he was ever present as Palace achieved promotion.
Subsequently, he suffered a serious eye injury which ultimately hastened his retirement.
He returned from the injury in a home
FA Cup quarter final tie against
Leeds United, in March 1965,
and made one further appearance, in the league, the following month. He retired to become coach at Crystal Palace
and later manager at
Orient
The Orient is a term for the East in relation to Europe, traditionally comprising anything belonging to the Eastern world. It is the antonym of ''Occident'', the Western World. In English, it is largely a metonym for, and coterminous with, the c ...
,
Millwall and Brighton, whilst also having roles at Chelsea.
Following these stints as manager he then became first team coach at Brighton, moving on to manager whilst at the Goldstone ground in Hove. Petchey was well known for being an excellent coach of young players (he was the first English coach to get all the Uefa coaching badges), demonstrated when bringing through the ranks,
Laurie Cunningham
Laurence Paul Cunningham (8 March 1956 – 15 July 1989) was an English professional footballer. A left winger, he notably played in England, France and Spain, where he became the first ever British player to sign for Real Madrid.
Cunningham ...
at Leyton Orient, who went on to play for Real Madrid. His passion for bringing through young talent took him to become chief scout at
Newcastle United
Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End ...
in the late 1990s under
Ruud Gullit, bringing in players such as
Kieron Dyer from
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 ...
. Following this, he became one of the first team coaches under
Sir Bobby Robson
Sir Robert William Robson (18 February 1933 – 31 July 2009) was an English footballer and football manager. His career included periods playing for and later managing the England national team and being a UEFA Cup-winning manager at Ipswich ...
in the successful early 2000s before retirement.
Personal life
Petchey died on 23 December 2019 aged 88.
References
External links
*
George Petchey at holmesdale.net
{{DEFAULTSORT:Petchey, George
1931 births
2019 deaths
Footballers from Whitechapel
English footballers
Crystal Palace F.C. players
Queens Park Rangers F.C. players
West Ham United F.C. players
English football managers
Leyton Orient F.C. managers
Millwall F.C. managers
Association football defenders
English Football League players
Crystal Palace F.C. non-playing staff