John Bertolini (21 March 1934 – 21 June 2021) was a Scottish 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 as a

wing half A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

. He was later a manager.

Career

Born in

Alloa Alloa (Received Pronunciation ; educated Scottish pronunciation /ˈaloʊa/; gd, Alamhagh, possibly meaning "rock plain") is a town in Clackmannanshire in the Central Lowlands of Scotland. It is on the north bank of the Forth at the spot where ...

, of Italian descent, Bertolini played for Alva Albion Rangers,

Stirling Albion Stirling Albion Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the city of Stirling. The club was founded in 1945 following the demise of King's Park after World War II. The club currently competes in Scottish League Two as a member of the ...

Workington Workington is a coastal town and civil parish at the mouth of the River Derwent on the west coast in the Allerdale borough of Cumbria, England. The town was historically in Cumberland. At the 2011 census it had a population of 25,207. Loca ...

and

Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club (), commonly referred to simply as Brighton, is an English professional football club based in the city of Brighton and Hove. They compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league ...

. Signed by Albion manager Billy Lane, Bertolini played at right half and had a spell of 193 consecutive appearances during his career at the Goldstone. A knee-ligament injury while turning out for the reserves ended his career in October 1965. After retiring, he managed

Whitehawk Whitehawk is a suburb in the east of Brighton, England, south of Bevendean and north of Brighton Marina. The area is a large, modern housing estate built in a downland dry valley historically known as Whitehawk Bottom. The estate was originally ...

ran a pub in

Shoreham-by-Sea Shoreham-by-Sea (often shortened to Shoreham) is a coastal town and port in West Sussex, England. The town is bordered to its north by the South Downs, to its west by the Adur Valley and to its south by the River Adur and Shoreham Beach on the ...

, West Sussex, and worked in the car and van hire business. He suffered from dementia and spent the last eight years of his life in a care home in

Worthing Worthing () is a seaside town in West Sussex, England, at the foot of the South Downs, west of Brighton, and east of Chichester. With a population of 111,400 and an area of , the borough is the second largest component of the Brighton and Hov ...

, where he died on 21 June 2021, aged 87.

References

1934 births 2021 deaths People from Alloa Sportspeople from Clackmannanshire Scottish people of Italian descent Scottish footballers Association football wing halves Alva Albion Rangers F.C. players Stirling Albion F.C. players Workington A.F.C. players Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. players Scottish Football League players English Football League players Scottish football managers Whitehawk F.C. managers {{Scotland-footy-midfielder-1930s-stub