Harry (Peter) Goring (2 January 1927 – December 1994) 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 ...

. Born in

Bishop's Cleeve Bishop's Cleeve is a large village and civil parish in the Borough of Tewkesbury in the ceremonial county of Gloucestershire, England. Cheltenham. The village lies at the foot of Cleeve Hill, the highest point in the Cotswolds. Bishop's Cleev ...

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

, one of six brothers, Goring first played for local Southern League side

Cheltenham Town Cheltenham Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. From the 2021–22 season, the club compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league syst ...

, making a name for himself as a prolific

centre forward Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

. In January 1948, he was signed by First Division club,

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

, although he spent the next eighteen months playing in the reserve side. After impressing on the club's tour of Brazil in the summer of 1949, Goring made his first-team debut against

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

on 24 August 1949, when Arsenal won 2–1. In his first season, Goring was the club's second-top goalscorer, with 21 goals in 29 matches. Arsenal only finished fifth that season, but did win the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

, beating

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

2–0 in the final. Goring started up front but did not score. Goring continued to play up front for the Gunners, scoring 16 times the following season, but was displaced by

Cliff Holton Clifford Charles Holton (29 April 1929 – 31 May 1996) was an English footballer. Born in Oxford, Holton played as a full back for non-league Oxford City as a youth, before joining Arsenal in October 1947 at the age of 18. He spent three sea ...

in 1951-52, and his form noticeably dropped. He only scored five goals in 19 appearances that season. However, he fought his way back into the side in the following season, and scored ten goals in 29 appearances, with Arsenal winning the League on

goal average A goal is an idea of the future or desired result that a person or a group of people envision, plan and commit to achieve. People endeavour to reach goals within a finite time by setting deadlines. A goal is roughly similar to a purpose or ai ...

. However, in 1953-54 his goalscoring touch deserted him entirely, and he only played nine matches, without scoring a single goal. Arsenal manager Tom Whittaker still had faith in Goring and, after switching him to

right 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 ...

, Goring became a first team regular once again. He missed only six matches over the next two seasons, and was picked for a

Football Association The Football Association (also known as The FA) is the governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the oldest football association in the world an ...

XI that toured the

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greater A ...

in the summer of 1955. The latter years of Goring's career were affected by age and injuries. In his final three seasons at the club, between 1956 and 1959, he only played 25 times - and only twice in 1958-59 - as he gradually dropped down to the reserves. In all, he played 240 matches for Arsenal, scoring 53 goals. In the summer of 1959, Goring moved to

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 ...

, in a swap deal that took Alan Ashberry to Arsenal, before retiring from playing. After retiring, Goring returned to

Cheltenham Cheltenham (), also known as Cheltenham Spa, is a spa town and borough on the edge of the Cotswolds in the county of Gloucestershire, England. Cheltenham became known as a health and holiday spa town resort, following the discovery of mineral s ...

to run the family butcher's shop, Wheeler & Goring on Tewkesbury Road. His other sporting love was golf and he became the golfing coach at Cleeve Hill golf course. In September 1968, Goring was appointed manager of

Forest Green Rovers Forest Green Rovers Football Club are a professional football club based in Nailsworth, Gloucestershire, England. The team compete in , the third tier of the English football league system, and have played their home games at The New Lawn since ...

. He remained in charge of the club for 11 seasons, until his resignation in October 1979, during which time he took them from the

Gloucestershire County League The Gloucestershire County Football League is a football league in England, founded in 1968. The league is affiliated to the Gloucestershire County FA. It sits at step 7 (or level 11) of the National League System and is a feeder to Divisio ...

to the Hellenic League. He died in 1994, aged 67, and was buried at St Michael's church

Honours

* First Division: 1952–53 *

: 1949–50

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Goring, Peter 1927 births 1994 deaths English footballers Association football forwards Cheltenham Town F.C. players Arsenal F.C. players Boston United F.C. players Forest Green Rovers F.C. managers People from Bishop's Cleeve Sportspeople from Gloucestershire English football managers FA Cup Final players