Graeme Aldred (11 September 1966 – 22 February 1987) 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 ...

who made 44 appearances in the Football League playing as a right back for

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. The River Skerne flows through the town; it is a tributary of the River Tees. The Tees itself flows south of the town. In the 19th century, Darlington underwen ...

in the 1980s. He began his career as a trainee with

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 ...

, and also played

non-league football Non-League football describes football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is specifically used to de ...

for clubs including

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 ...

and Whitley Bay.

Life and career

Aldred was born in Ferryhill,

County Durham County Durham ( ), officially simply Durham,UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. is a ceremonial county in North East England.North East Assembly �About North East E ...

, and represented his county schools at under-15 and under-19 level. He began his football career with

, but never broke through to the first team, and moved on to

of the

Fourth Division Fourth or the fourth may refer to: * the ordinal form of the number 4 * ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971 * Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision * Fourth (music), a musical interval * ''The Fourth'' (1972 film), a Sovie ...

in September 1984. He made his debut 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 ...

in a goalless draw away to

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the North West England, northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the Borough of Blackpool, borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, betw ...

on 15 September 1984, and went on to appear in 28 league matches, two-thirds of which were in the starting eleven, as Darlington finished third and were

promoted Promotion may refer to: Marketing * Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...

to the

Third Division In sport, the Third Division, also called Division 3, Division Three, or Division III, is often the third-highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Association football *Belgian Thir ...

. He also played in the

1984–85 FA Cup The 1984–85 FA Cup was the 104th staging of the world's oldest football knockout competition, The Football Association Challenge Cup, or FA Cup. The competition was won by Manchester United, who defeated Everton 1–0 at Wembley, thus denying ...

run during which Darlington eliminated near neighbours Middlesbrough in what was voted the greatest match seen at their

Feethams Feethams is a cricket and former football grounds in Darlington, England. The cricket ground has hosted Durham CCC matches. The football ground was the home of Darlington F.C. for from 1883 to 2003 until the club moved into another ground, ...

ground. Aldred began the 1985–86 season in the team, but lost his place when Chris Evans arrived in October. He finished the season with 44 league appearances in total, 57 in all competitions. Aldred left Darlington at the end of the season, and began 1986–87 with

Northern Premier League The Northern Premier League is an English football league that was founded in 1968. It has four divisions: the Premier Division (which stands at level 7 of the English football league system), Division One East, Division One West and Divisio ...

club

. By December he was playing in the

Northern League Northern League may refer to: Sport Baseball * Northern League (baseball, 1902–71), a name used by several minor leagues that operated in the upper midwestern U.S. and Manitoba from 1902 to 1971 * Northern League (baseball, 1993–2010), an indep ...

for Whitley Bay. In February 1987, the 20-year-old Aldred was a passenger in a friend's car when it went out of control. He was thrown from the car, and died of his injuries two days later in

Newcastle General Hospital Newcastle General Hospital (NGH) was for many years the main hospital for the city of Newcastle upon Tyne, England, and is managed by Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. The Accident and Emergency Department and Intensive Care clo ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aldred, Graeme 1966 births 1987 deaths People from Ferryhill Footballers from County Durham English footballers Association football defenders Newcastle United F.C. players Darlington F.C. players Barrow A.F.C. players Whitley Bay F.C. players English Football League players Northern Premier League players Northern Football League players Road incident deaths in England