''For other people named John Platt, see John Platt.'' John Platt (born 1954) is a

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

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

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 ...

Oldham Athletic

He was first spotted by

Oldham Athletic Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The history of Oldham Athletic ...

playing for his home town club Ashton United. He signed amateur forms for the Oldham club in 1971 and became a full-time professional in 1974. During his

Boundary Park Boundary Park is a football stadium in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England. Its name originates from the fact that it lies at the northwestern extremity of Oldham, with Royton and Chadderton lying immediately north and west respectively. Bound ...

career, he was unlucky to be sidelined with two long spells of injury, and was also forced to compete for his place, first by Chris Ogden and then by

Peter McDonnell Peter McDonnell (born 11 June 1953) is an English former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper in England, the United States and Hong Kong. Career McDonnell was born Kendal, Westmorland, England. He began his professional career ...

. He first took over from Ogden for a home game against

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

on 21 October 1975, lost his place again in November, but regained it six weeks later. Ogden came back for the last two games of a season which saw Platt play 27 league games and Ogden 15. Platt started the next season as first choice, but then suffered a long injury spell from March 1977, which kept him out of action until October, when he came back into the team for a game at

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

and then retained his place for the rest of the season. Injury kept him out for the whole of the 1978–79 season, by which time Ogden had moved on to

Swindon Town Swindon Town Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club has played home matches at ...

and Oldham had signed McDonnell from

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

. McDonnell played in every game that season and started in goal for the following season, only for Platt to make a comeback in November, and go on to start another 19 games. McDonnell then became the established Number 1, and after playing a total of 109 games over a six-year period, Platt was released at the end of the season, joining

Bury Bury may refer to: *The burial of human remains *-bury, a suffix in English placenames Places England * Bury, Cambridgeshire, a village * Bury, Greater Manchester, a town, historically in Lancashire ** Bury (UK Parliament constituency) (1832–19 ...

in August 1981. During the latter part of his playing career he had qualified in sports management at

Salford University , caption = Coat of ArmsUniversity of Salford , mottoeng = "Let us seek higher things" , established = 1850 - Pendleton Mechanics Institute 1896 – Royal Technical Institute, Salford 1967 – gained ...

and in September 1986 he again signed amateur forms for Oldham when he was appointed stadium manager at Boundary Park where he was in charge of community use of the new artificial pitch, and supervised the

Football in the Community Scheme Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

. He played no further games for Oldham in this period, and in August 1987, while continuing his community work at the club, he signed as a player with

Stalybridge Celtic Stalybridge Celtic Football Club is an English football club based in Stalybridge, Greater Manchester. They are currently members of the and play at Bower Fold. The team traditionally plays in a blue and white strip. In 1921 Stalybridge Celtic ...

.Garth Dykes: Oldham Athletic Complete Record, 1898–1988: Breedon Books 1988

Other clubs

After leaving

in 1983, he joined

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club () is a professional football club based in Horwich, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in . The club played at Burnden Park for 102 years from 1895 after moving from their original home at Pike's ...

, moving again in 1984 to

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional football club in Preston, Lancashire, England, who currently play in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league syste ...

. During his time at Preston he also had a loan spell at

Tranmere Rovers Tranmere Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. The team compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1884 as Belmont Football Club, they adop ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Platt, John Bolton Wanderers F.C. players Bury F.C. players Oldham Athletic A.F.C. players Preston North End F.C. players Tranmere Rovers F.C. players Footballers from Ashton-under-Lyne 1954 births Living people Men's association football goalkeepers English Football League players Ashton United F.C. players Stalybridge Celtic F.C. players English men's footballers Oldham Athletic A.F.C. non-playing staff