Peter William John Gelson (18 October 1941 – 26 April 2021) was an English 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 in the Football League for Brentford as a

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and

wing half A midfielder is an 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 central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

. A

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amongst the club's supporters, he is third on the all-time Brentford appearances list with 516. In 2013, Gelson placed second in a Football League 125th Anniversary poll of Brentford's all-time fan favourites and was inducted into the Brentford Hall of Fame in November 2014.

Career

Brentford

Joining Brentford at a young age, Gelson progressed through the club's

youth Youth is the time of life when one is young. The word, youth, can also mean the time between childhood and adulthood ( maturity), but it can also refer to one's peak, in terms of health or the period of life known as being a young adult. Yo ...

, 'A' and reserve teams before making his professional debut at age 19 in a 2–0 Third Division defeat to

Halifax Town FC Halifax Town is a professional association football club based in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England. They currently compete in and play at the Shay. They replaced Halifax Town A.F.C., which went into administration in the 2007–08 season. ...

on 22 August 1961. Despite still being a part-time player, Gelson quickly established himself in the first team as a

, making 28 appearances during the 1961–62 season, a campaign which saw Brentford relegated to the Fourth Division. Gelson was a key player in Brentford's 1962–63 Fourth Division title-winning season and made 32 appearances, but he remained part-time and did not sign a professional contract until 1964. He was awarded the captaincy in August 1966, but a loss of form saw him lose it to

Bobby Ross Robert Joseph Ross (born December 23, 1936) is an American former football coach. He served as the head football coach at The Citadel (1973–1977), the University of Maryland, College Park (1982–1986), the Georgia Institute of Technology ...

four months later. Gelson was known for his long-range goals and scored three times from behind the halfway line. A "hard man" as a player, in 1970 he ended the career of Colchester United's Bobby Howlett in a challenge which resulted in a broken leg for the Us defender. Gelson went on to be a fixture at

until his final appearance for the club in September 1974. He left Brentford shortly after, having made 516 appearances in all competitions for the club. In recognition of his service to the club, Gelson was awarded

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in 1970 and 1975, earning him £3,630. He was inducted into the Brentford Hall of Fame in November 2014 and remained a season ticket holder up until the final seasons at Griffin Park.

Non-League football

After his departure from Brentford, Gelson played on in non-League football, appearing for Hillingdon Borough (two spells),

Hounslow Hounslow () is a large suburban district of West London, west-southwest of Charing Cross. It is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Hounslow, and is identified in the London Plan as one of the 12 metropolitan centres in ...

and Walton & Hersham. In 1985, he was active in forming the

Staines Town Staines Town Football Club was a semi-professional Association football, football club based in Staines-upon-Thames, Middlesex. History Early days Staines Town FC was founded in 1892 and was known under various names including ''Staines F.C ...

Veterans' team, for which he also played, making his final appearance at the age of 66 on the final day of the 2007–08 season.

Personal life

In his early days as a part-time player at Brentford, Gelson worked in

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for the

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. His Brentford teammate Gordon Phillips remained a lifelong friend and the pair were godparents to each other's children. After retiring from football, Gelson found work at Heathrow Airport and worked in security with

British Airways British Airways (BA) is the flag carrier airline of the United Kingdom. It is headquartered in London, England, near its main hub at Heathrow Airport. The airline is the second largest UK-based carrier, based on fleet size and passengers ...

and

Qatar Airways Qatar Airways Company Q.C.S.C. ( ar, القطرية, ''al-Qaṭariya''), operating as Qatar Airways, is the state-owned flag carrier airline of Qatar. Headquartered in the Qatar Airways Tower in Doha, the airline operates a hub-and-spoke netwo ...

. He worked for a number of years in

Doha, Qatar Doha ( ar, الدوحة, ad-Dawḥa or ''ad-Dōḥa'') is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor (city), Al Khor, it is home to m ...

as a

loadmaster A loadmaster is an aircrew member on civilian aircraft or military transport aircraft tasked with the safe loading, transport and unloading of aerial cargoes. Loadmasters serve in the militaries and civilian airlines of many nations. Duties ...

for Khalifa bin Hamad Al Thani's multiple private aircraft. He retired and returned to the UK in 2007. Gelson was married and as of June 2010, had five grandchildren.

Career statistics

Honours

Brentford * Football League Fourth Division: 1962–63 * Football League Fourth Division third-place promotion: 1971–72 Individual * Brentford Supporters' Player of the Year: 1972–73, 1973–74 * Brentford Players' Player of the Year: 1973–74 * Brentford Hall of Fame

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gelson, Peter 1941 births 2021 deaths Footballers from Hammersmith English men's footballers Men's association football central defenders Brentford F.C. players English Football League players Hillingdon Borough F.C. players Hounslow F.C. players Walton & Hersham F.C. players Isthmian League players Southern Football League players