Donald Ratcliffe (13 November 1934 – 19 October 2014) 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 ...

who played in

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in Association football around the wor ...

for

Crewe Alexandra Crewe Alexandra Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Crewe, Cheshire, that competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Railwaymen' because of ...

, Darlington,

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 ...

and Stoke City.

Career

Ratcliffe was born in Newcastle-under-Lyme and joined Stoke City in May 1953 after being recommended to the club by a local grocer who had seen him playing football in the street. He made his debut at home to Bury on Christmas Day in 1954–55 and of his 11 appearances in that season six were against Bury. He became the prankster of Stoke's dressing room and was a hugely popular figure amongst the players. On the pitch Ratcliffe's natural position was left wing although he played in every position bar centre half causing Stoke manager

Tony Waddington Anthony Waddington (9 November 1924 – 21 January 1994) was an English football manager at both Crewe Alexandra and Stoke City. Waddington had a seven-year playing career with Crewe Alexandra before becoming a coach at Stoke City. He progre ...

to boast that Ratcliffe was the first £100,000 footballer – as they could have sold him for £10,000 for each position. Under Waddington he was a regular and played in every match in 1962–63 as Stoke won the

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

title. He fell out of favour with Waddington in the First Division and he was sold to

for £27,500 in September 1963. Ratcliffe's time at "Boro" was not that good as he brands manager

Raich Carter Horatio Stratton "Raich" Carter (21 December 1913 – 9 October 1994) was an English sportsman who played football for Sunderland, Derby County and Hull City, as well as representing England on thirteen occasions. He also played first-class cri ...

as 'a waste of space' which ended with Ratcliffe joining Darlington in February 1966 helping the club gain promotion in 1965–66 which was followed by an instant relegation. He moved on again to

and again gained promotion from the Fourth Division and he ended his career with non-league Northwich Victoria. Ratcliffe died on 19 October 2014 at the age of 79.

Career statistics

Source:

Honours

; Stoke City *

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 t ...

champions: 1962–63 ; Darlington * Football League Fourth Division runner-up: 1965–66 ; Crewe Alexandra * Football League Fourth Division 4th place promotion: 1967–68

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ratcliffe, Don 1934 births 2014 deaths Footballers from Newcastle-under-Lyme Men's association football wingers English men's footballers Stoke City F.C. players Middlesbrough F.C. players Darlington F.C. players Crewe Alexandra F.C. players Northwich Victoria F.C. players English Football League players