Roy Bailey (26 May 1932 – April 1993) was an English professional

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

er, 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 ...

. He made a total of 433

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

appearances for

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building ...

and

Ipswich Town Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. They play in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in 1878 but did not turn profession ...

Early life

Bailey was born in

Epsom, Surrey Epsom is the principal town of the Borough of Epsom and Ewell in Surrey, England, about south of central London. The town is first recorded as ''Ebesham'' in the 10th century and its name probably derives from that of a Saxon landowner. ...

, the fifth child in a family of thirteen. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, he was evacuated to

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

, and was educated in

Weston-super-Mare Weston-super-Mare, also known simply as Weston, is a seaside town in North Somerset, England. It lies by the Bristol Channel south-west of Bristol between Worlebury Hill and Bleadon Hill. It includes the suburbs of Mead Vale, Milton, Oldmixon ...

, before returning to his native

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

at the age of 15. He played for Tottenham Juniors; however, it was a long way to travel from Epsom to North London, so he joined nearby

as an Amateur. During his

National Service National service is the system of voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act 1939. The l ...

, he served in Germany, where he represented B.A.O.R., also reaching the quarter finals of the Army Cup.

Playing career

Bailey signed professional terms in June 1949 and made his League debut against

Torquay United Torquay United Football Club is a professional football club based in Torquay, Devon, England. The team currently compete in the , the fifth tier of English football. They have played their home matches at Plainmoor since 1921 and are nicknamed ...

at the age of 17 when Palace lost 3–1. However, he did not make regular appearances until after his Army service. Bailey missed only one match in the 1953–54 season and was granted a benefit, along with Jack Edwards in 1954. He was signed for

, by

Alf Ramsey Sir Alfred Ernest Ramsey (22 January 1920 – 28 April 1999) was an English football player and manager. As a player, he represented the England national team and captained the side, but he is best known for his time as England manager fr ...

, on the day before the transfer deadline in March 1956, and came into the League side in the Easter

local derby Local may refer to: Geography and transportation * Local (train), a train serving local traffic demand * Local, Missouri, a community in the United States * Local government, a form of public administration, usually the lowest tier of administrat ...

match with

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club (also known as The Canaries or The Yellows) is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. The club competes in the EFL Championship following their relegation from the Premier League in the 20 ...

at Carrow Road. He conceded two goals in the first three minutes. Despite this start, he soon displaced George McMillan as the Town's regular 'keeper, and won Championship medals in the First, Second, and Third Divisions of the Football League. He became a qualified M.C.C. coach and F.A. coach. During the summer, he played cricket for Ipswich and East Suffolk, one of the leading clubs in Suffolk, for whom he kept wicket. He also ran the Ipswich footballers' darts team, which played weekly matches against local clubs. His son,

Gary Bailey Gary Richard Bailey (born 9 August 1958) is a former footballer who made nearly 300 appearances in the Football League playing as a goalkeeper for Manchester United. Born in Ipswich, Suffolk, he grew up in South Africa, but went on to be capped ...

, was a goalkeeper for

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

and helped them win two

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 ...

s in the 1980s, and was also capped twice by

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, before retiring due to injury in 1987. Roy Bailey,

Larry Carberry Lawrence James Carberry (18 January 1936 – 26 June 2015) was an English professional footballer. Carberry started his career with local amateurs Bootle in 1953. His career began when Ipswich Town manager Alf Ramsey spotted him. He turned pro ...

John Elsworthy John Elsworthy (26 July 1931 – 3 May 2009) was a Welsh footballer. A midfielder, he was signed by Ipswich Town manager Scott Duncan in May 1949, after playing as an amateur for Newport County. He played all his professional club football for ...

Ted Phillips Ted Phillips is an American businessman and the President and CEO of the National Football League's Chicago Bears and has been a part of the organization since 1984. He is only the fourth president of the 100-year-old organization, the others bei ...

, and

Jimmy Leadbetter James Hunter Leadbetter (15 July 1928 – 18 July 2006) was a Scottish footballer, most notable for his achievements as a left-winger with Ipswich Town during the 1950s and 1960s. He remains the only Scottish footballer to win English Third, Se ...

became the first players to have won First (now

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

), Second (now

Football League Championship The English Football League Championship (often referred to as the Championship for short or the Sky Bet Championship for sponsorship purposes) is the highest division of the English Football League (EFL) and second-highest overall in the En ...

), and Third Division (now

Football League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

) Championship medals with the same club; a feat that is only equaled by Leicester City's

Andy King Andrew or Andy King may refer to: * Andrew King (astrophysicist) (born 1947), British astrophysicist * Andrew King (architect), Canadian architect and cross-disciplinary artist * Andrew King (mayor) (born 1960 or 1961), former mayor of Hamilton, Ne ...

in 2015–16 season after Leicester City F.C. won the Premier League, having also previously won League One, and Championship with Leicester. He moved to South Africa in 1964 on retiring as a player, and lived there until he died in April 1993 at the age of 60.

Honours

Football League First Division The Football League First Division was a division of the Football League in England from 1888 until 2004. It was the top division in the English football league system from the season 1888–89 until 1991–92, a century in which the First ...

: 1961–62 *

Football League Second Division The Football League Second Division was the second level division in the English football league system between 1892 and 1992. Following the foundation of the FA Premier League, the Football League divisions were renumbered and the third ti ...

: 1960–61 *

Football League Third Division South The Third Division South of The Football League was a tier in the English football league system from 1921 to 1958. It ran in parallel with the Third Division North with clubs elected to the League or relegated from Division Two allocated to on ...

: 1956–57 Individual * Ipswich Town Hall of Fame: Inducted 2011

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bailey, Roy 1932 births 1993 deaths English footballers English Football League players Tottenham Hotspur F.C. players Crystal Palace F.C. players Ipswich Town F.C. players Association football goalkeepers