Malcolm Beard (born 3 May 1942) 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 ...

born in

Cannock Cannock () is a town in the Cannock Chase district in the county of Staffordshire, England. It had a population of 29,018. Cannock is not far from the nearby towns of Walsall, Burntwood, Stafford and Telford. The cities of Lichfield and Wolv ...

, Staffordshire, who made more than 350 appearances 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 ...

playing as a

wing half 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 ...

. He spent the vast majority of his playing career at

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Sin ...

, for whom he made 405 appearances in all competitions. He joined the club as an amateur in 1957 when he left school, and turned professional in May 1959. He also played for Aston Villa and in non-league football for Atherstone Town. He went on to coach in England and abroad, and was employed as chief scout by

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the National ...

and Aston Villa. He was capped for

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 ...

at youth level.

Honours

Birmingham City * Inter-Cities Fairs Cup runners-up: 1960–61 * Football League Cup winners: 1962–63

References

1942 births Living people Sportspeople from Cannock English men's footballers Men's association football wing halves Birmingham City F.C. players Aston Villa F.C. players Atherstone Town F.C. players English Football League players Leicester City F.C. non-playing staff Aston Villa F.C. non-playing staff Footballers from Staffordshire {{England-footy-midfielder-1940s-stub