Trevor Anthony Putney (born 9 April 1960) is an English former 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 le ...

who played as a

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

Ipswich Town

Putney began his professional football career fairly late in life when Bobby Robson 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 ...

signed him from non-league Brentwood FC, and went on to make 103 appearances. He was voted the club's player of the year by the supporters in 1984 amongst the likes of Wark, Burley, Cooper, Butcher, Osman, Gates and Mariner. He then joined the small band of players who have played for both Ipswich and

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 ...

, when he joined the Canaries in the summer of 1986 in a player exchange deal that saw

John Deehan John Matthew Deehan (born 6 August 1957) is an English former football manager and player. During his playing career he was a footballer from 1975 until 1990 and is most well known for his spells as a striker for Aston Villa and Norwich City. ...

join Ipswich.

Norwich City

Putney spent three seasons with Norwich, making 100 appearances, and enjoying some of the club's best success, finishing 4th in the old First Division (now Premier League). A ban on English clubs playing in Europe due to the Heysel Stadium Disaster, prevented Putney and Norwich qualifying for the UEFA Cup. During the same season, a successful FA Cup run saw Norwich reach the Semi-Finals versus Everton at Villa Park. Everton ran out 1–0 winners thanks to a Pat Nevin goal - however the main headline of the day was the tragic news coming from the other Semi-Final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest at Hillsborough where sadly 96 people lost their lives and another 766 were injured. The success at Norwich attracted the interest from many other top flight clubs and players soon started to depart; Mike Phelan (Manchester United), Andy Townsend (Chelsea), Andy Linighan (Arsenal) and Trevor joined

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

for a fee of £300,000 in 1989.

Middlesbrough

Putney spent just two years at Middlesbrough which was hindered by a bad injury suffered in the Semi-Final win overAston Villa in the Zenith Data Systems Cup (Full Members Cup). Putney suffered breaks to his Tibia and Fibula after a late challenge from Gordon Cowans. Putney played few games after his return from injury and soon moved back down South (his home town is Romford) when he was signed by Steve Perryman for Watford FC in a swap plus cash deal, with Paul Wilkinson and Willie Falconer going the other way.

Watford

At Watford, Putney was regarding as one of the senior pros amongst the likes of Peter Nicholas, Alan Devonshire, Andy Hessenthaler and Nigel Gibbs. This was offset by the upcoming young talent such as Paul Furlong, David James and Jason Drysdale. Probably Putney's most memorable match at Watford came in their 2–1 win over First Division (now Premier League) Champions, Leeds Utd, at Vicarage Road in the third-round of the Coca-Cola Cup (Football League Cup) which saw Putney awarded the Man-of-the-Match award for keeping the likes of Strachan, Cantona, McAllister and Speed at bay at the age of 32.

Leyton Orient

After 52 league appearances for the Hornets,

Glenn Roeder Glenn Victor Roeder (13 December 1955 – 28 February 2021) was an English professional football player and manager. As a player, Roeder played as a defender for Arsenal, Leyton Orient, Queens Park Rangers, Notts County, Newcastle United, Watfo ...

sold Putney to

Leyton Orient Leyton Orient Football Club is a professional football club based in Leyton, East London, England, who compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. They are the second oldest football club in London to play at a professio ...

, where he was rewarded with the club Captaincy by

John Sitton John Edmund Sitton (born 21 October 1959) is an English former professional footballer and former coach and manager of Leyton Orient. Playing and early coaching career Sitton's playing career began at youth level at Arsenal and Chelsea. He tu ...

amongst senior pros such as

Gary Bellamy Gary Bellamy (born 4 July 1962) is an English former professional footballer. He began his career at Chesterfield, making over 150 appearances for the club before joining Wolverhampton Wanderers in 1987. He helped the club to back-to-back promot ...

Terry Howard Terence Howard (born 26 February 1966) is an English former footballer who played for Chelsea, Crystal Palace, Chester City, Leyton Orient, Wycombe Wanderers, Woking and Aldershot Town. A tall full-back, Terry Howard played for Essex Schoolb ...

Glenn Cockerill Glenn Cockerill (born 25 August 1959) is an English retired footballer who played more than 700 games in The Football League in a 22-year career. He was a skilled central midfielder renowned for his passing and shooting skills. Playing career Co ...

and

Colin West Colin West (born 13 November 1962) is an English former footballer who is now the assistant manager at club Hartlepool United. He played as a forward and scored 158 goals in 555 league and cup games in the English Football League, Conference ...

Colchester United

After one season and 22 league appearances at Brisbane Road, Chris Turner sent Putney on loan to Essex club

Colchester United Colchester United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Colchester, Essex, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1937, the club spent its earl ...

, which then became a permanent deal in 1994 playing alongside the recognised Steve Whitton and

Mark Kinsella Mark Anthony Kinsella (born 12 August 1972) is an Irish football manager and former player, currently a coach at Drogheda United after previously being both the manager and assistant manager. He played as a central midfielder for most of his ca ...

. Putney retired from professional football after leaving

after one season and 28 league appearances in 1995. He was known as a hard-tackling midfielder, the joker of the dressing room and easily distinguishable for his shock of white-blonde hair. After retirement Putney had brief spells in commentary, hospitality, radio and scouting within the professional game. During his playing days, Putney was reputed by his footballing colleagues as a prankster.

Honours

Individual * Ipswich Town Player of the Year: 1983–84

References

External links

Pride of Anglia
*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Putney, Trevor 1960 births Living people People from Harold Hill Footballers from the London Borough of Havering Men's association football midfielders English men's footballers Brentwood Town F.C. players Norwich City F.C. players Watford F.C. players Middlesbrough F.C. players Ipswich Town F.C. players Leyton Orient F.C. players Colchester United F.C. players Essex Senior Football League players Association football scouts