Ronald Peter 'Percy' Freeman (4 July 1945 – 5 January 2016) was an English footballer who played as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

Early career

Freeman commenced his career with local non-league clubs around

Redditch Redditch is a town, and local government district, in north-east Worcestershire, England, approximately south of Birmingham. The district has a population of 85,000 as of 2019. In the 19th century, it became the international centre for the ...

where he was brought up, playing for junior sides Headless Cross Youth, Alcester Boys Club and Clent Rovers as a teenager and then senior sides Alcester Town,

Alvechurch Alvechurch ( ) is a large village and civil parish in the Bromsgrove district in northeast Worcestershire, England, in the valley of the River Arrow. The Lickey Hills Country Park is 2.5 miles (4 km) to the northwest. It is south of Birmi ...

, Astwood Bank, and

Stourbridge Stourbridge is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley in the West Midlands, England, situated on the River Stour. Historically in Worcestershire, it was the centre of British glass making during the Industrial Revolution. The 20 ...

coupled with Sunday league teams AFC, Black Horse and the Redditch Wednesday shopkeepers team. He joined

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was formed in 1878 and has pla ...

in 1969. After only making three appearances with

The Hawthorns The Hawthorns is an all-seater association football, football stadium in West Bromwich, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England, with a capacity of 26,688. It has been the home of EFL Championship, Championship club West Bromwich Albion F ...

club, Freeman signed for Lincoln City where he was best known with 152 league appearances and 64 goals. Freeman also played for

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...

and

Boston United Boston United Football Club is a semi-professional association football club based in Boston, Lincolnshire, England. The club participates in the National League North, at the sixth tier of the English football league system. The club is known ...

, and later managed

Boston Town Boston Town Football Club is a football club based in Boston, Lincolnshire, England. It is currently a member of the and plays at Tattershall Road. History The club was established as Boston Football Club in 1963 by former officials of Bosto ...

. Freeman died on 5 January 2016 at the age of 70 after a long period of ill-health.Tributes for Lincoln City 'legend' Percy Freeman
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Freeman, Percy 1945 births 2016 deaths English men's footballers Alcester Town F.C. players Alvechurch F.C. players Stourbridge F.C. players West Bromwich Albion F.C. players Lincoln City F.C. players Reading F.C. players Boston United F.C. players English football managers Boston Town F.C. managers Sportspeople from Newark-on-Trent Footballers from Nottinghamshire Men's association football forwards English Football League players