Norman Bell (born 16 November 1955) is an English former

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 ...

, born in

Hylton Castle Hylton Castle ( ) is a stone castle in the North Hylton area of Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, England. Originally built from wood by the Hilton (later Hylton) family shortly after the Norman Conquest in 1066, it was later rebuilt in stone in ...

, Sunderland, who played in

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in Association football around the wor ...

for

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...

and

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...

. He also played in the NASL for

New England Tea Men The New England Tea Men were an American professional soccer team based in Greater Boston. They played in the North American Soccer League (NASL) from 1978 to 1980. Their home venues for outdoor play were Schaefer Stadium (shared with the NFL's ...

Career

Bell began his career at

as an apprentice in 1971, and turned professional in 1973. He made his senior debut for the club on 23 September 1975 in a goalless draw with Aston Villa, but appeared only a handful of times in that season, which ended in relegation from the First Division. Overlooked for the club's 1976–77 promotion campaign, he returned to the fold in the following season. With John Richards sidelined, Bell played regularly in the 1978–79 season, until breaking his leg in an

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

tie at

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building ...

in February 1979. As a result of the injury and the addition of Andy Gray to the Molineux attack, Bell next featured in the first team more than a year later, in March 1980, when Wolves fielded a weakened side a few days before the League Cup Final. He found it hard to gain regular football and eventually left to join

in November 1981. In total, he scored 24 goals in 100 games for Wolves. He stayed with Rovers for two-and-a-half seasons in 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 ...

before moving into non-league football as

player-manager A player-coach (also playing coach, captain-coach, or player-manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. A player-coach may be a head coach or an assistant coach. They may make changes to the s ...

Darwen Darwen is a market town and civil parish in the Blackburn with Darwen borough in Lancashire, England. The residents of the town are known as "Darreners". The A666 road passes through Darwen towards Blackburn to the north, Bolton to the s ...

. Since retiring from football Bell had various sales-related jobs before working with young offenders for Blackburn with Darwen Council. Bell's son

Andy Andy may refer to: People * Andy (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Horace Andy (born 1951), Jamaican roots reggae songwriter and singer born Horace Hinds * Katja Andy (1907–2013), German-American pianist and pi ...

also became a professional footballer, and his uncle Harry Bell played in

in the 1940s and 1950s.

References

External links

*
Stats and photo
at Sporting Heroes {{DEFAULTSORT:Bell, Norman 1955 births Living people Footballers from Sunderland English men's footballers Men's association football forwards Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. players Blackburn Rovers F.C. players Darwen F.C. players English Football League players English football managers English expatriate men's footballers New England Tea Men players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States English expatriate sportspeople in the United States