Norman H. Tapken (21 February 1913 – June 1996) 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 le ...

whose regular position was as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

. Born in

Wallsend Wallsend is a town in North Tyneside, England, at the eastern end of Hadrian's Wall. It has a population of 43,842 and lies east of Newcastle upon Tyne. History Roman Wallsend In Roman times, this was the site of the fort of Segedunum. This fo ...

, Northumberland, he began his career with local club Wallsend Thermal Welfare, before joining

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End ...

in May 1933.Dykes (1994), p. 367. After taking over from Mick Burns as Newcastle's first-choice goalkeeper during the 1934–35 season, he went on to make a total of 106

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 ...

appearances for Newcastle before joining

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

in December 1938 for a fee of £850.Norman Tapken
MUFC.info. Retrieved 3 January 2022. Taking over from regular goalkeeper Jack Breedon, Tapken made his debut for the club at home to

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the National ...

Boxing Day Boxing Day is a holiday celebrated after Christmas Day, occurring on the second day of Christmastide (26 December). Though it originated as a holiday to give gifts to the poor, today Boxing Day is primarily known as a shopping holiday. It ...

1938; he kept a clean sheet as Manchester United won 3–0. He retained the number one jersey for the next two months, but a run of four games at the end of February 1939 in which he conceded 16 goals saw

Tommy Breen Tommy Breen (27 April 1912 – 1 March 1988) was an Irish footballer who played as a goalkeeper for, among others, Belfast Celtic, Manchester United, Linfield and Shamrock Rovers. Breen was a dual international and played for both Ireland t ...

take over. Tapken returned to duty for three games at the start of April, but a 3–1 defeat to

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road S ...

resulted in Breedon step in again for the final four games of the season. During the

Second World War 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 ...

, Tapken played in the

Wartime League The Wartime League was a football league competition held in England during World War II, which replaced the suspended Football League. The exclusion of the FA Cup in these years saw the creation of the Football League War Cup and it was a friendly ...

for his old club, Newcastle United (nine appearances), and

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

(two appearances) in 1942–43, before finding more regular action with

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. The River Skerne flows through the town; it is a tributary of the River Tees. The Tees itself flows south of the town. In the 19th century, Darlington underwen ...

(32 appearances) in 1943–44.Rollin (2005), pp. 324–5. In 1944–45, as well as playing for Darlington (six appearances), he turned out for

Aldershot Aldershot () is a town in Hampshire, England. It lies on heathland in the extreme northeast corner of the county, southwest of London. The area is administered by Rushmoor Borough Council. The town has a population of 37,131, while the Alders ...

(three appearances),

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 ...

(two appearances) and

Chester Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...

(one appearance). He played one more season in the Wartime League with Darlington (six appearances), before returning to play 12 matches for Manchester United.Rollin (2005), p. 365. However, with the resumption of

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 ...

in August 1946, Tapken – now 34 years old – was unable to regain his place in the Manchester United first team, and in April 1947, he moved to Darlington on a permanent basis. He missed just 11 games in the 1947–48 season, but his performances could not help Darlington to any higher than 16th place in the

Third Division North The Third Division North of the Football League was a tier in the English football league system from 1921 to 1958. It ran in parallel with the Third Division South with clubs elected to the League or relegated from a higher division allocated to ...

. At the end of the season, he joined Irish club Shelbourne, where he spent one season before retiring from the game; it turned out to be his most successful season as a professional, as the team won the

League of Ireland Shield The League of Ireland Shield ( ga, Sciath Sraithe na hÉireann) is a defunct Irish football tournament which was introduced when the League of Ireland started in 1921 and ran uninterrupted until 1972. It was played before the league season began ...

, the Leinster Cup and finished as runners-up in the

League of Ireland The League of Ireland ( ga, Sraith na hÉireann), together with the Football Association of Ireland, is one of the two main governing bodies responsible for organising association football in the Republic of Ireland. The term was originally us ...

and the

FAI Cup The Football Association of Ireland Senior Challenge Cup (FAI Cup), known as the Extra.ie FAI Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a knock-out association football competition contested annually by teams from the Republic of Ireland (as well as Derry ...

, while Tapken himself was selected for two

League of Ireland XI The League of Ireland XI, more recently referred to as the ''Airtricity League XI'' for sponsorship reasons, is the representative team of the League of Ireland, the national association football league of the Republic of Ireland. For much of its ...

matches against the

Irish Football League Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

(Northern Ireland). In July 1952, Tapken took up an assistant trainer role with

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, which competes in the . Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, it changed its name to Stoke in 1878 and then to Stoke City in 1925 after Stoke ...

References

;General * * ;Specific

External links

Profile
at StretfordEnd.co.uk {{DEFAULTSORT:Tapken, Norman 1913 births 1996 deaths English footballers Newcastle United F.C. players Manchester United F.C. players Darlington F.C. players Shelbourne F.C. players Newcastle United F.C. wartime guest players Sunderland A.F.C. wartime guest players Darlington F.C. wartime guest players Aldershot F.C. wartime guest players Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. wartime guest players Chester City F.C. wartime guest players Men's association football goalkeepers Footballers from Wallsend English expatriate sportspeople in Ireland English expatriate footballers Expatriate association footballers in the Republic of Ireland League of Ireland players League of Ireland XI players