George Ernest Petherbridge (19 May 1927 – 4 March 2013) was a 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 for

Bristol Rovers Bristol Rovers Football Club are a professional football club in Bristol, England. They compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They play home matches at the Memorial Stadium in Horfield, they have been c ...

for seventeen years, between 1945 and 1962.

Early life

Petherbridge was born in Devonport,

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

in 1927 and was the only child of parents Frederick Petherbridge and Violet Trout. The family relocated to

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

when George was young, and he was brought up in the city.

Football career

He joined

in 1945, and spent his entire professional career with the club, eventually leaving seventeen years later in 1962. He played as a winger and made 457 appearances 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 496 in all competitions, scoring 85 league and seven cup goals. Joining the club in time for the resumption of League football after play had been suspended 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 opposin ...

, Petherbridge achieved the impressive feat of scoring at least one goal in each of the sixteen seasons immediately after the war. He is one of only three men to have played for Rovers for more than fifteen years, and is the fifth most capped player for the club, behind Stuart Taylor,

Harry Bamford Henry Charles Bamford (8 February 1920 – 31 October 1958) was a professional footballer, who played for Bristol Rovers for his entire professional career. A local man, born and raised in St. Philip's Marsh, he played chiefly as a right-b ...

, Jack Pitt, and

Geoff Bradford Geoffrey Reginald William Bradford (18 July 1927 – 30 December 1994) was an English professional footballer who spent his entire career at Bristol Rovers Bristol Rovers Football Club are a professional football club in Bristol, England ...

. His 85 goals in the Football League make him ''The Pirates 9th-highest goalscorer. After ending his professional career with Rovers, he dropped out of the Football League to join

Salisbury Salisbury ( ) is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately from Southampton and from Bath. Salisbury is in the southeast of Wil ...

in 1962 and in 1963 had a short spell with Cornish side

Falmouth Town Falmouth Town Association Football Club is a football club based in Falmouth, Cornwall, United Kingdom. They are currently members of the and play at Bickland Park. The club were the first Cornish team to reach the first round proper of the F ...

in the South Western League. On 9 April 2021, Petherbridge became the seventh player to be inducted into the Bristol Rovers Hall of Fame.

Family life

Petherbridge married Rita Walker in 1950, and the couple had three children and eleven grandchildren. Following his retirement from football he worked as a publican, running The Angel in Sherston, and later The Tamar in

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

. He also worked as a PE teacher and groundsman at

Millfield School Millfield is a public school (English independent day and boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) located in Street, Somerset, England. It was founded in 1935. Millfield is a registered charity and is the largest co-educational boarding scho ...

and

Wells Cathedral School Wells Cathedral School is a co-educational independent school located in Wells, Somerset, England. The school is one of the five specialist musical schools for school-age children in the United Kingdom, along with Chetham's School of Music, the ...

respectively. Petherbridge Way in

is named after Petherbridge. The road lies midway between Bristol Rovers' former home at

Eastville Stadium Eastville Stadium, also known as Bristol Stadium and Bristol Stadium – Eastville, was a stadium in Eastville, a northern suburb of the English city of Bristol. Constructed in 1897, it was the home of Bristol Rovers F.C., the Bristol Bulldog ...

and their current ground, the Memorial Stadium. He died on 4 March 2013, at the age of 85.

References

External links

Petherbridge Way
on

Google Maps Google Maps is a web mapping platform and consumer application offered by Google. It offers satellite imagery, aerial photography, street maps, 360° interactive panoramic views of streets ( Street View), real-time traffic conditions, and rou ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Petherbridge, George 1927 births 2013 deaths English footballers Sportspeople from Devonport, Plymouth Association football midfielders Bristol Rovers F.C. players Salisbury City F.C. players English Football League players Falmouth Town A.F.C. players