John Henry Templeman (born 21 September 1947) is an English former 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 ...

who made 453 Football League appearances playing as a full back or

midfielder 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 ...

, including more than 200 each for

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 ...

and

Exeter City Exeter City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Exeter, Devon, England. The team play in , the third tier of the English football league system. Known as "the Grecians", the origin of their nickname is subject to ...

Life and career

Templeman was born in

Yapton Yapton is a village and civil parish in the Arun District of West Sussex, England. It is centred three miles (4.8 km) north east of Bognor Regis at the intersection of the B2132 and B2233 roads. The parish of Yapton lies on the coastal plai ...

West Sussex West Sussex is a county in South East England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the shire districts of Adur, Arun, Chichester, Horsham, and Mid Sussex, and the boroughs of Crawley and Worthing. Covering an ...

, and began his football career with Arundel Town before joining

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

's youth system. However, the Portsmouth club axed its junior teams in 1965, and Templeman moved on to

. He turned professional in July 1966 and made his first-team debut in December, charged with man-marking the country's top scorer,

Rodney Marsh Rodney William Marsh (born 11 October 1944) is an English former footballer and football coach; he later worked as a broadcaster. A forward, he won nine caps for England between 1971 and 1973, scoring one international goal. Brought up in the ...

Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England, which compete in the . After a nomadic early existence, they have played home matches at Loftus Ro ...

. He continued in the team for several years, and on the final day of the 1971–72 season, scored a goal that earned Brighton the point they needed to secure promotion to the

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

. Templeman had taken his totals to 18 goals from 255 senior appearances by the end of the 1973–74 season, when

Brian Clough Brian Howard Clough ( ; 21 March 1935 – 20 September 2004) was an English football player and manager, primarily known for his successes as a manager with Derby County and Nottingham Forest. He is one of four managers to have won the Engl ...

used him and

Lammie Robertson Archibald Lamond Robertson, also known as Lammie Robertson, (born 27 September 1947 in Paisley) is a Scottish retired footballer who played in the Football League for Burnley, Bury, Halifax Town, Brighton & Hove Albion, Exeter City, Leicester C ...

against the wishes of bothas makeweights in the deal that brought

Fred Binney Frederick Edward Binney (born 12 August 1946) is an English former professional footballer who played in the Football League for Torquay United, Exeter City, Brighton & Hove Albion, Plymouth Argyle and Hereford United, and in the North Ameri ...

from

to Brighton. He was a regular for five years with Exeter, and was a member of the squad that gained promotion from the Fourth Division in 1976–77. He made 206 league appearances before finishing his Football League career with a season at

Swindon Town Swindon Town Football Club is a professional 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 the County Ground sin ...

. He then played Southern League football for Witney Town while managing a sports centre, coached abroad, returned to England to manage Arundel, and worked in insurance and as a taxi driver. In July 2021, he was still living in West Sussex and held a season ticket at Brighton & Hove Albion.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Templeman, John 1947 births Living people People from Yapton Footballers from West Sussex English footballers Men's association football midfielders Men's association football defenders Portsmouth F.C. players Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. players Exeter City F.C. players Swindon Town F.C. players Witney Town F.C. players English Football League players Southern Football League players English football managers