Michael Richard Maskell (25 January 1952 – 4 May 2017) 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 ...

who made one appearance as a full back 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 ...

for

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings whi ...

Playing career

Chelsea

A full back, Maskell began his career in the

youth system In sporting terminology, a youth system (or youth academy) is a youth investment program within a particular team or league, which develops and nurtures young talent in farm teams, with the vision of using them in the first team in the future if t ...

at First Division club

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

. He was a part of the first team squad during the 1969–70 season, but failed to make an appearance. He was released at the end of the season.

Brentford

Maskell's former Chelsea youth team manager

Frank Blunstone Frank Blunstone (born 17 October 1934) is an English former footballer who played as an outside left for Crewe Alexandra, Chelsea and the England national team. Playing career After surprisingly rejecting Wolverhampton Wanderers in favour of h ...

brought him to Fourth Division club

in July 1970. Maskell made his professional debut in a 5–1 defeat to

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 ...

on 5 September 1970. It was his only appearance for the club and his contract was cancelled shortly afterwards, due to an alleged serious breach of discipline.

Stevenage Athletic

After his release from Brentford, Maskell dropped into non-League football and signed for Southern League First Division club Stevenage Athletic.

Personal life

Maskell's brother John was also a footballer.

Career statistics

References

1952 births People from Eynsham English men's footballers Brentford F.C. players English Football League players Chelsea F.C. players Stevenage Athletic F.C. players Southern Football League players Men's association football fullbacks 2017 deaths Footballers from Oxfordshire {{England-footy-defender-1950s-stub