Michael John Bodley (born 14 September 1967) 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 le ...

who made 258 appearances 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 ...

playing for

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 ...

Northampton Town Northampton Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Northampton, England. The team plays in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1897, the club competed in the Midland ...

Barnet Barnet may refer to: People *Barnet (surname) * Barnet (given name) Places United Kingdom *Chipping Barnet or High Barnet, commonly known as Barnet, one of three focal towns of the borough below. *East Barnet, a district of the borough below; an ...

Southend United Southend United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of English football. Southend are known as ...

, Gillingham,

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Since 2011, the first te ...

and

Peterborough United Peterborough United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Peterborough have a long-standing ...

. He played as a

central defender In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

Playing career

Early career

Bodley was born in Hayes, in the

London Borough of Hillingdon The London Borough of Hillingdon () is the largest and westernmost borough in West London, England. It was formed from the districts of Hayes and Harlington, Ruislip-Northwood, Uxbridge, and Yiewsley and West Drayton in the ceremonial county ...

. He began his football career as an apprentice with

, and turned professional in 1985. He played eight times for the first team in all competitions before leaving for

for a fee of £50,000 in January 1989. He played 20 league games for the club before moving into

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 ...

with

, who paid £15,000 for his services in October 1989.

Barnet, Southend United and loans

Bodley contributed to Barnet's

Conference A conference is a meeting of two or more experts to discuss and exchange opinions or new information about a particular topic. Conferences can be used as a form of group decision-making, although discussion, not always decisions, are the main p ...

title in 1991, and to their run to the third round proper of that year's FA Cup, scoring twice in their 3–1 defeat of

Heybridge Swifts Heybridge Swifts Football Club is a football club based in Heybridge, near Maldon, Essex, England. They are currently members of the and play at Scraley Road. History The club was established in 1880 as Heybridge Football Club. After joining t ...

in the fourth qualifying round. In the 1992–93 season, Bodley was one of 11 Barnet players awarded free transfers by the

because the club had not paid their wages. He joined

in July 1993, linking up with former Barnet manager

Barry Fry Barry Francis Fry (born 7 April 1945) is an English former football player and manager. A winger, Fry was an apprentice at Manchester United in his youth, and had brief spells with Bolton Wanderers, Luton Town and Leyton Orient, before he reti ...

who had joined the club not long before. In three seasons with Southend he played 79 games in all competitions, and spent two months

on loan In sports, a loan involves a particular player being able to temporarily play for a club other than the one to which they are currently contracted. Loan deals may last from a few weeks to a full season, sometimes persisting for multiple seasons ...

at Gillingham, whose supporters made a £2,500 donation to the club in an attempt to fund the player's stay for a third month: a fruitless gesture, as the player joined

five days later, also on loan, as cover for injuries and suspensions among the defence.

Peterborough United, St Albans City and Dagenham & Redbridge

In July 1996,

manager Barry Fry, who had worked with Bodley at Barnet, Southend and Birmingham, paid his former club £75,000 for his services. Bodley took part in the club's record league win, against his former club Barnet in

Division Three The Football League Third Division was the third tier of the English football league system in 1920–21 and again from 1958 until 1992. When the FA Premier League was formed, the division become the fourth tier level. In 2004, following the ...

in September 1998: Peterborough won 9–1, and Bodley's

own goal An own goal, also called a self goal, is where a player performs actions that result in them or their team scoring a goal on themselves, often resulting in a point for the opposing team, such as when a football player kicks a ball into their own ...

meant they actually scored all ten. Bodley played more than 100 games in all competitions, and was appointed

club captain The team captain of an association football team, sometimes known as the skipper, is a team member chosen to be the on-pitch leader of the team; they are often one of the older or more experienced members of the squad, or a player that can heavi ...

, before he and teammate

Derek Payne Derek Richard Payne (born 26 April 1967) is an English former professional footballer who played as a midfielder, making over 200 appearances in the Football League. Career Born in Edgware, Payne played for Kingsbury Town, Burnham, Hayes, B ...

were allowed to leave Peterborough on a free transfer for

Isthmian League Premier Division The Isthmian League () is a regional men's football league covering Greater London, East and South East England, featuring mostly semi-professional clubs. Founded in 1905 by amateur clubs in the London area, the league now consists of 82 teams ...

club St Albans City, strengthening their squad prior to the

FA Trophy The Football Association Challenge Trophy, commonly known as the FA Trophy, is a men's football knockout cup competition run by and named after the English Football Association and competed for primarily by semi-professional teams. The compet ...

semi-final. Bodley played six league games for the club and took part in both legs of the Trophy semi-final, which St Albans lost 4–3 on aggregate. In the 1999 close season he became manager

Garry Hill Garry Hill is an English football manager who was last the manager of National League club Ebbsfleet United. He previously managed Woking, Heybridge Swifts, St Albans City, Dagenham & Redbridge, Hornchurch, Weymouth and Rushden & Diamonds. ...

's first signing for

Dagenham & Redbridge Dagenham & Redbridge Football Club is a professional association football club based in Dagenham, Greater London, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Often known simply as Dag ...

, soon to be followed by Payne. Awarded the captaincy, Bodley led his players to the Isthmian League title, and with it

promotion 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

Conference National The National League, known as the Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest level of the National League System and fifth-highest of the overall English football league system. It is the highest league that is semi-profes ...

; they lost only five games all season, and finished the campaign with ten successive victories.

Canvey Island

At the end of the season he signed for

Canvey Island Canvey Island is a town, civil parishes in England, civil parish and reclaimed island in the Thames estuary, near Southend-on-Sea, in the Castle Point district, in the county of Essex, England. It has an area of and a population of 38,170.Office ...

, and contributed to their reaching the second round of the FA Cup in his first season. Doubtful for the first-round match at home to

Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in . Vale are the only English Football League club not to be named after a place; their name being a reference to the valley o ...

because of a groin injury, Bodley declared himself fit, played 90 minutes in the tie which ended 4–4 draw, and played 120 minutes in the replay as Canvey won 2–1 after extra time to set themselves up a

local derby Local may refer to: Geography and transportation * Local (train), a train serving local traffic demand * Local, Missouri, a community in the United States * Local government, a form of public administration, usually the lowest tier of administrat ...

with Southend United. Bodley, one of eight former Southend players on Canvey's books, would miss it through suspension, though the club enquired whether the game might be moved to the Friday to allow him to take part; as the venue was already booked that night for a carol concert, the match was played as scheduled, and Canvey lost 2–1. That same season, Bodley played as Canvey won the

, defeating

Forest Green Rovers Forest Green Rovers Football Club are a professional football club based in Nailsworth, Gloucestershire, England. The team compete in , the third tier of the English football league system, and have played their home games at The New Lawn since ...

1–0 at

Villa Park Villa Park is a football stadium in Aston, Birmingham, England, with a seating capacity of 42,682. It has been the home of Premier League side Aston Villa since 1897. The ground is less than a mile from both Witton and Aston railway stations ...

to become the first side from below the Conference to win the Trophy for 20 years. Postponements because of cup success and bad weather caused fixture congestion at the end of the 2001–02 season, leaving Bodley facing a schedule of seven games in nine days combined with having to get up at 4:30am for work as a postman. Bodley underwent a knee operation in November 2001 which kept him out for several weeks, then in March 2002 he damaged a tendon which put an end to his season and effectively meant his retirement.

Personal life

When Bodley left professional football he worked as a postman. He is married with daughters.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bodley, Mick 1967 births Living people Footballers from the London Borough of Hillingdon People from Hayes, Hillingdon English men's footballers Men's association football central defenders Chelsea F.C. players Northampton Town F.C. players Barnet F.C. players Southend United F.C. players Gillingham F.C. players Birmingham City F.C. players Peterborough United F.C. players St Albans City F.C. players Dagenham & Redbridge F.C. players Canvey Island F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players