Norman George Corbett (23 June 1919 – June 1990) was a Scottish

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

right-half A midfielder is an Glossary of association football terms#O, 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 #Cent ...

Career

Born in

Camelon Camelon (; sco, Caimlan, gd, Camlann)
is a large set ...

Falkirk Falkirk ( gd, An Eaglais Bhreac, sco, Fawkirk) is a large town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, historically within the county of Stirlingshire. It lies in the Forth Valley, northwest of Edinburgh and northeast of Glasgow. Falkirk had a ...

, as a schoolboy Corbett captained the Falkirk team that won the Scottish Schools Trophy. He also played for Scotland Boys. He signed for Heart of Midlothian at the age of 15 although never played a competitive first team game for the

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

club. While farmed out at Musselburgh Athletic, he played for Scotland Juniors three times (including twice as captain, the youngest-ever player to do so). Corbett played for West Ham United between April 1937 and 1950. In a career that was badly affected by

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, he made a total of 306 appearances for the club, including war competitions, scoring eight goals. He won a Football League War Cup winners medal in 1940, although he did not appear in the final, and was an ever-present for the Irons during the 1947–48 season. After the outbreak of the war, Corbett served as a volunteer with the Essex Regiment, and guested for

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 ...

. Corbett played his last League game for West Ham against

Cardiff City Cardiff City Football Club ( cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Dinas Caerdydd) is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1899 as R ...

on 15 April 1950, and appeared only for the

reserve team In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players under contract to a club but who do not normally play in matches for the first team. Reserve teams often include back-up players from the first team, young players who need playing time to i ...

after that. He later became a

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

and joined Clapton. Norman Corbett was brother of ''Hammers'' player

David David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...

(who was also a right-half) and

Willie Willy or Willie is a masculine, male given name, often a diminutive form of William or Wilhelm, and occasionally a nickname. It may refer to: People Given name or nickname * Willie Aames (born 1960), American actor, television director, and scree ...

, who guested for the club during

References

External links

Norman Corbett
at Spartacus Educational 1919 births 1990 deaths Scottish military personnel Scottish footballers Heart of Midlothian F.C. players Musselburgh Athletic F.C. players Scottish Junior Football Association players Scotland men's junior international footballers English Football League players West Ham United F.C. players Southampton F.C. wartime guest players Falkirk F.C. wartime guest players West Ham United F.C. non-playing staff Footballers from Falkirk (council area) Men's association football wing halves Essex Regiment soldiers British Army personnel of World War II Association football coaches {{Scotland-footy-defender-1910s-stub