Peter Derek Hatch (born 22 October 1949) is an English retired 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

left back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

and

midfielder 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 ...

Career

Born in

Wargrave Wargrave () is a historic village and civil parish in Berkshire, England. The village is primarily on the River Thames but also along the confluence of the River Loddon and lies on the border with southern Oxfordshire. The village has many old ...

, Hatch turned professional with

Oxford United Oxford United Football Club is a professional football club in the city of Oxford, England. The team plays in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The chairman is Grant Ferguson, the manager is Karl Robinson and t ...

in October 1966, making 19 league appearances over the next seven years. He moved to

Exeter City Exeter City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Exeter, Devon, England. The team play in , the third tier of the English football league system. Known as "the Grecians", the origin of their nickname is subject to ...

in December 1973, on the same day as Keith Bowker, who he also initially lived with, and went on to make 346 league appearances for the club. He was with the club as they finished runners-up in the 1976–77 Fourth Division, gaining promotion. In 1982 he signed for Maltese club Hamrun Spartans, winning the national title during his first season with them. After that season he returned to the UK, playing for a number of non-league clubs including

Bideford Bideford ( ) is a historic port town on the estuary of the River Torridge in north Devon, south-west England. It is the main town of the Torridge local government district. Toponymy In ancient records Bideford is recorded as ''Bedeford'', ''By ...

Taunton Town Taunton Town Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in Taunton, Somerset. They compete in the , the sixth tier of English football and play their home matches at Wordsworth Drive, which they moved into during the 1953 season. ...

, Barnstaple Town, Dawlish Town, Crediton United and Heavitree United. Exeter City gave him a testimonial match in October 1986, against first club Oxford United. After retiring from football, Hatch worked as postman in the Exeter area. In April 2018 he was inducted into the Exeter City Hall of Fame.

References

1949 births Living people English men's footballers Oxford United F.C. players Exeter City F.C. players Ħamrun Spartans F.C. players Bideford A.F.C. players Taunton Town F.C. players Barnstaple Town F.C. players Dawlish Town A.F.C. players Crediton United A.F.C. players Heavitree United F.C. players English Football League players Men's association football fullbacks Men's association football defenders English expatriate men's footballers English expatriates in Malta Expatriate men's footballers in Malta People from Wargrave Footballers from Berkshire {{England-footy-defender-1940s-stub