Trevor Dance (born 31 July 1958) is an English former

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

goalkeeper who played 84 league games in the

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 ...

for

Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in . Vale are the only English Football League club not to be named after a place; their name being a reference to the valley o ...

between 1975 and 1980. He also played for non-League sides

Stafford Rangers Stafford Rangers Football Club is a semi-professional English football team from Stafford which plays in the Northern Premier League Premier Division. The team wear black and white stripes with black shorts. Stafford Rangers' rivals include T ...

, Altrincham, and Telford United, and also played for American club Cleveland Cobras.

Career

Port Vale

Dance moved with his family to

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands Cou ...

as a child as his father found work in the coal mines. Dance joined

as an apprentice in August 1975, signing his first professional forms in July 1976, and making his debut in a 2–1 defeat at

Mansfield Town Mansfield Town Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in the town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Stags', they ...

on 28 December 1976. An understudy to

John Connaughton Patrick John Connaughton (23 September 1949 – 12 November 2022) was an English professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He played 387 league and cup games in a 16-year career. He also represented England at youth level on three oc ...

, he made a highly impressive Vale Park debut on 10 January 1977, his saves were a key part of a 3–1 victory over Second Division Hull City in the FA Cup third round

replay Replay may refer to: * Replay (sports), a replayed match between two sport teams Technology * Game replay, a recording of a game session. * Instant replay, in motion pictures and television, a showing again of part of a film * Replay Professional, ...

game. He finished the 1976–77 campaign with 12 appearances to his name as Connaughton recovered from injury, and featured eight times in 1977–78, as

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

Roy Sproson was replaced by Bobby Smith, and the "Valiants" were relegated out of the

Third Division In sport, the Third Division, also called Division 3, Division Three, or Division III, is often the third-highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Association football *Belgian Thir ...

. He was sent on loan to local rivals

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, which competes in the . Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, it changed its name to Stoke in 1878 and then to Stoke City in 1925 after Stoke ...

in May 1978 as the Potters required a goalkeeper under the age of 21 for a tournament in the Netherlands. He was loaned out to American Soccer League club Cleveland Cobras the next month, returning in August 1978. He became the regular Vale keeper in January 1979 under new boss

Dennis Butler Dennis Anthony Butler (born 24 June 1944) is an English former football player and manager. He played as a winger for Bolton Wanderers between 1959 and 1968, before ending his playing career following a five-year spell at Rochdale. Later wor ...

. He made 27

Fourth Division Fourth or the fourth may refer to: * the ordinal form of the number 4 * ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971 * Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision * Fourth (music), a musical interval * ''The Fourth'' (1972 film), a Sovie ...

appearances in 1978–79. He played 40 games in 1979–80, and retained his first-team place under new manager John McGrath. However, he lost his first-team place in August 1980 after refusing to sign a new contract without a pay increase. He was loaned out to non-League

in September 1980 and signed a permanent deal the next month, Rangers paying Vale £10,000.

Later career

Dance stayed with Rangers for three years, making over 150 appearances, before he joined Altrincham in October 1983. He was an ever-present for Altrincham during the 1984–85 season. He later played for Telford United, before retiring to concentrate on his tiling business.

Personal life

Dance's brother-in-law, Bob Young, was the

administrator Administrator or admin may refer to: Job roles Computing and internet * Database administrator, a person who is responsible for the environmental aspects of a database * Forum administrator, one who oversees discussions on an Internet forum * N ...

who took charge at Port Vale in the 2000s.

Career statistics

Source:

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dance, Trevor 1958 births Living people People from South Hetton Footballers from County Durham English men's footballers Men's association football goalkeepers Port Vale F.C. players Stoke City F.C. players English expatriate men's footballers English expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Cleveland Cobras players Stafford Rangers F.C. players Altrincham F.C. players Telford United F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players