Paul Joseph Priddy (born 11 July 1953) is an English retired semi-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 ...

who played 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 ...

in the Football League for Brentford and Wimbledon. Priddy holds the record as Aldershot Town's oldest-ever player, after he made an appearance in 1999 at the age of 45 years and 270 days.

Career

Early years

, Priddy began his career at Fulham, where he was also a member of the ground staff at

Craven Cottage Craven Cottage is a football ground in Fulham, West London, England, which has been the home of Fulham F.C. since 1896.According to the club'official website The ground's capacity is 22,384; the record attendance is 49,335, for a game against ...

. He was released without making an appearance and dropped into non-League football to join Isthmian League club Hayes. He managed just one appearance on the opening day of the 1971–72 season before departing to join

Athenian League The Athenian League was an English amateur football league for clubs in and around London. The league was originally to be called the Corinthian League,Athenian Football League minutes 1912-1921 (National Football Museum, Preston). but this nam ...

Premier Division club

Maidenhead United Maidenhead United Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in Maidenhead, Berkshire, England. They are currently members of and have played at York Road since 1871, making it the 'oldest senior football ground continuously ...

, where he remained until the end of the season.

Brentford

Priddy moved up to the Football League to sign amateur forms with newly-promoted Third Division club Brentford during the 1972–73

pre-season In an organized sports league, a typical season is the portion of one year in which regulated games of the sport are in session: for example, in Major League Baseball the season lasts approximately from the last week of March to the last week of Se ...

. Despite being signed as cover for Gordon Phillips, Priddy signed a professional contract in October 1972 and held onto the number one jersey for much of the 1972–73 season, but a run of just five wins in 22 games saw the Bees relegated straight back to the Fourth Division. The

loan In finance, a loan is the lending of money by one or more individuals, organizations, or other entities to other individuals, organizations, etc. The recipient (i.e., the borrower) incurs a debt and is usually liable to pay interest on that ...

signing of Steve Sherwood saw Priddy lose his place and he departed Griffin Park in 1974, having made 54 appearances.

Non-League football (1974–1975)

Priddy dropped back into non-League football in 1974 and joined high-flying Southern League Premier Division club Wimbledon, where he provided cover for

Dickie Guy Richard John Guy (born 6 January 1949) is an English former Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper for Wimbledon F.C., Wimbledon during the 1960s and 1970s. Today, Guy is the President of AFC Wimbledon, the supporter-owned club which repr ...

. He later joined Isthmian League club Walton & Hersham and departed in 1975.

Return to Brentford

Priddy re-joined Brentford, then still in the Fourth Division, as cover for

Bill Glazier William James Glazier (born 2 August 1943) is an English retired professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He is best remembered for his time in the Football League with Coventry City, for whom he made over 390 appearances and is a me ...

in 1975. Glazier quit the club after making just 12 appearances and Priddy went on to hold on to the number one jersey until the appointment of manager Bill Dodgin Jr. the following year. Priddy left Brentford for the second time in May 1977 and made 75 appearances during his second spell with the club.

Return to non-League football and second spell with Wimbledon (1977–1980)

Priddy returned to non-League football in 1977 and joined Isthmian League Premier Division club Tooting & Mitcham United. He returned to Wimbledon for a second spell in October 1978 and with the club by now promoted to the Fourth Division, he made one league appearance deputising for

Ray Goddard Raymond Goddard (13 February 1949 − 11 December 2007) was an English football goalkeeper, who played for three London clubs between 1967 and 1981. Goddard began his career as a member of Fulham's youth team, but was released without being o ...

. Priddy later resumed his non-League career with

Wealdstone Wealdstone () is a district located in the centre of the London Borough of Harrow, England. It is located just north of Harrow town centre and is south of Harrow Weald, west of Belmont and Kenton, and east of Headstone. The area accommodates ...

and

Oxford City Oxford City Football Club is a semi-professional English association football club based in Marston, Oxford. They currently compete in the National League South, the sixth tier of English football, and play their home matches at Marsh Lane. ...

. He joined Hayes for a second spell in 1980 and made 69 appearances in total for the club.

Third spell with Brentford

Priddy joined Brentford for a third time on a part-time contract in August 1981, as cover for

David McKellar David Norwood McKellar (born 22 May 1956) is a Scottish retired professional footballer, best remembered for his time as a goalkeeper in the Football League with Carlisle United, for whom he made 160 appearances for the club over two spells. ...

. Now in the Third Division, he made one appearance before departing Griffin Park for the final time at the end of the 1981–82 season. In his three spells with Brentford, Priddy made 130 appearances.

Later years

Priddy retired in the early 1980s, but came out of retirement to sign with Isthmian League First Division club

Hampton Hampton may refer to: Places Australia *Hampton bioregion, an IBRA biogeographic region in Western Australia *Hampton, New South Wales *Hampton, Queensland, a town in the Toowoomba Region * Hampton, Victoria Canada * Hampton, New Brunswick *Ha ...

in November 1983. A

ruptured spleen A splenic injury, which includes a ruptured spleen, is any injury to the spleen. The rupture of a normal spleen can be caused by trauma, such as a traffic collision. Signs and symptoms In minor injuries with little bleeding, there may be abdomin ...

forced him into retirement for a second time. An injury crisis at

Aldershot Town Aldershot Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Aldershot, Hampshire, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in the spring ...

in March 1999 saw Priddy come out of retirement a third time for an

Isthmian League Cup The Alan Turvey Trophy, formerly the Isthmian League Cup is a football knock-out cup competition organised by the Isthmian League in England. History Isthmian League Chairman and President Alan Turvey was among the FA's "150 Grassroots Heroes" ...

semi-final second leg match versus

Bromley Bromley is a large town in Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley. It is south-east of Charing Cross, and had an estimated population of 87,889 as of 2011. Originally part of Kent, Bromley became a market town, c ...

, in which he helped the club through to the final. The appearance made him Aldershot's oldest-ever player.

Coaching career

Aldershot Town

Priddy joined Isthmian League club Aldershot Town as goalkeeping coach in July 1992, after being recommended to the club by coach and former Brentford teammate

Paul Shrubb Paul Shrubb (1 August 195528 May 2020) was an English professional footballer, coach and scout who made 350 appearances as a player in the Football League, most notably for Brentford and Aldershot. He later returned to Aldershot as assistant ...

. He left the club for a period in November 2001. He remained in the role until late 2009, through the Shots' elevation back to the Football League.

AFC Wimbledon

Priddy began coaching goalkeepers at non-League club AFC Wimbledon in 2007 and remained in the role until his retirement at the end of the

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

season, by which time the club had been promoted to the Football League.

Career statistics

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Priddy, Paul 1953 births Living people Footballers from Isleworth English footballers Association football goalkeepers Maidenhead United F.C. players Hayes F.C. players Brentford F.C. players Walton & Hersham F.C. players Wimbledon F.C. players Tooting & Mitcham United F.C. players Oxford City F.C. players Wealdstone F.C. players Hampton & Richmond Borough F.C. players Aldershot Town F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players Aldershot Town F.C. non-playing staff AFC Wimbledon non-playing staff Isthmian League players Southern Football League players