Paul Futcher
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Paul Futcher (25 September 1956 – 23 November 2016) was an English 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 ...
who had a distinguished career as a defender in the
English 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 Engl ...
, for England under 21s and 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 ...
of several non-league clubs. He is regarded as a club legend by
Grimsby Town Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that in the 2022–23 season will compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system, following the victory in t ...
who signed him at the age of 35 when he was apparently past his best. He went on to be described as one of the club's greatest ever players. Prior to his time with Grimsby he had enjoyed lengthy spells with
Luton Town Luton Town Football Club () is a professional association football club based in the town of Luton, Bedfordshire, England, that competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1885, it is nicknam ...
,
Oldham Athletic Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The history of Oldham Athletic be ...
and Barnsley as well as playing for Chester, Manchester City,
Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group. Founded in 188 ...
and
Halifax Town FC Halifax Town is a professional association football club based in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England. They currently compete in and play at the Shay. They replaced Halifax Town A.F.C., which went into administration in the 2007–08 season. ...
. After leaving Grimsby in 1994 he played for
Dundalk Dundalk ( ; ga, Dún Dealgan ), meaning "the fort of Dealgan", is the county town (the administrative centre) of County Louth, Ireland. The town is on the Castletown River, which flows into Dundalk Bay on the east coast of Ireland. It is h ...
before moving into management.


Playing career

Futcher was the defensive half of twin brothers. His brother was centre-forward
Ron Ron is a shortening of the name Ronald. Ron or RON may also refer to: Arts and media * Big Ron (''EastEnders''), a TV character * Ron (''King of Fighters''), a video game character *Ron Douglas, the protagonist in ''Lucky Stiff'' played by Joe ...
. Futcher began his career with hometown club Chester, who he made his debut for as a 16-year-old against
Cambridge United Cambridge United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Cambridge, England. They compete in EFL League one , the 3rd tier of the English football league system. The club is based at the Abbey Stadium on Ne ...
in March 1973. This came just a fortnight after his older brother
Graham Graham and Graeme may refer to: People * Graham (given name), an English-language given name * Graham (surname), an English-language surname * Graeme (surname), an English-language surname * Graham (musician) (born 1979), Burmese singer * Clan ...
had played his final game for the club and seven months before Ron made his debut for the Blues. Futcher quickly turned professional and had made 20 Football League appearances when
Luton Town Luton Town Football Club () is a professional association football club based in the town of Luton, Bedfordshire, England, that competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1885, it is nicknam ...
snapped him up for £100,000 in the summer of 1974. Ron joined him on the journey south, where Paul was to play more than 140 games and won ten England under 21 caps. Futcher was the most expensive defender in England when he became Manchester City's record signing for £350,000 on 1 June 1978. He replaced club stalwart
Tommy Booth Tommy Booth (born 9 November 1949) is an English former footballer who played in the Football League for Manchester City and Preston North End, and was capped four times for England at under-23 level. Booth was born in Middleton, Lancashire. ...
in the side which failed to live up to expectations and as the major new signing he attracted criticism. Booth won his place back, and on 1 July 1979 Futcher left
Maine Road Maine Road was a football stadium in Moss Side, Manchester, England, that was home to Manchester City F.C. from 1923 to 2003. It hosted FA Cup semi-finals, the Charity Shield, a League Cup final and England matches. Maine Road's highest a ...
for a fee of £150,000 and joined
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 ...
Oldham Athletic Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The history of Oldham Athletic be ...
. Futcher had twice been chosen for the England squad and each time a road accident had put paid to him fulfilling the invitation. Futcher was signed by
Grimsby Town Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that in the 2022–23 season will compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system, following the victory in t ...
from
Halifax Town FC Halifax Town is a professional association football club based in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England. They currently compete in and play at the Shay. They replaced Halifax Town A.F.C., which went into administration in the 2007–08 season. ...
reserves, aged 34, by
Alan Buckley Alan Peter Buckley (born 20 April 1951) is an English former professional footballer and football manager who now works as a sports co-commentator for BBC Humberside. As a player, he was a forward from 1967 to 1987 for Nottingham Forest, ...
for £10,000 as a short-term replacement for
Andy Tillson Andy Tillson (born 30 June 1966) is a football coach and former player who was head coach at Team Bath. Following Team Bath's decision to disband at the end of the 2008/9 season, Tillson was initially appointed as Weymouth's Assistant Manager, ...
. He went on to be a fans' favourite for five seasons, winning the Supporters Player of the Year twice in that time. Then his son Ben Futcher joined the club for their League Two play-off final season of 2005–06 before he left for
Peterborough United Peterborough United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Peterborough have a long-standing ...
. During his time at Grimsby, Futcher was held in high esteem by the club's supporters. Following the arrival of
Brian Laws Brian Laws (born 14 October 1961) is an English former professional footballer and manager. Playing as a defender, Laws made over 100 appearances for each of Burnley, Middlesbrough, and Nottingham Forest. In 1994, Laws became player-manager of ...
as manager and a poor performance in a match against Oldham Athletic, he departed in 1994, but remains thought of as one of the club's best-ever players. He later played for
Dundalk Dundalk ( ; ga, Dún Dealgan ), meaning "the fort of Dealgan", is the county town (the administrative centre) of County Louth, Ireland. The town is on the Castletown River, which flows into Dundalk Bay on the east coast of Ireland. It is h ...
where he played in
UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, clay ...
Qualifying Round against Malmo.


Management and coaching


Gresley Rovers

Futcher led Rovers to the Dr. Martens Premier Division championship in 1997; they were not promoted to the Conference because their ground failed to meet Conference standards. During this time, they regularly played against now EFL League One club, Burton Albion, often beating them.


Southport

The highlight of his two-and-a-half year stint with
Southport Southport is a seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. At the 2001 census, it had a population of 90,336, making it the eleventh most populous settlement in North West England. Southport lies on the Iris ...
was the club's FA Trophy final outing in 1998, where at 41; Futcher became the oldest player to appear in a competitive
Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in north-west Londo ...
final. The Sandgrounders narrowly lost to
Cheltenham Town Cheltenham Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. From the 2021–22 season, the club compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league sy ...
, and the remainder of the former Manchester City man's Haig Avenue tenure was blemished by successful relegation scraps.


Ashton United

Futcher was unable to save the Robins from relegation to the Northern Premier League. He subsequently failed to motivate the squad (using nearly 50 players in 10 months) and left in December 2005.


Personal life and death

Futcher's twin brother
Ron Ron is a shortening of the name Ronald. Ron or RON may also refer to: Arts and media * Big Ron (''EastEnders''), a TV character * Ron (''King of Fighters''), a video game character *Ron Douglas, the protagonist in ''Lucky Stiff'' played by Joe ...
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 ...
as well as being a top scorer in the
North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League may refer to: *North American Soccer League (1968–1984), a former Division I league *North American Soccer League (2011–2017) The North American Soccer League (NASL) was a professional men's soccer league b ...
; and their older brother
Graham Graham and Graeme may refer to: People * Graham (given name), an English-language given name * Graham (surname), an English-language surname * Graeme (surname), an English-language surname * Graham (musician) (born 1979), Burmese singer * Clan ...
also played professionally at Chester City. Paul's son
Ben Ben is frequently used as a shortened version of the given names Benjamin, Benedict, Bennett or Benson, and is also a given name in its own right. Ben (in he, בֶּן, ''son of'') forms part of Hebrew surnames, e.g. Abraham ben Abraham ( he, ...
has extensive Football League experience and he is the cousin of Danny Murphy. On 23 November 2016 Futcher died of cancer. Former club Grimsby Town described him as "one of the greatest footballers ever to have graced Blundell Park", adding that "It is impossible to describe the complete admiration we had for him, or the feeling inside as his wonderful abilities dominated matches. He was a complete one-off. Even though you had watched him come away with the ball in the most desperate of circumstances, you could never quite work out how he had done it! He was nothing short of a genius!" A minute's silence was observed at Grimsby's next fixture a 3–2 away defeat at
Crawley Town Crawley Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Crawley, West Sussex, England. The club was founded as Crawley Football Club in 1896, changed its name to Crawley Town Football Club in 1958. The team com ...
. Whilst Grimsby also announced they would hold a minutes applause for him in their next home game against
Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...
.


Honours


As player

Grimsby Town * Third Division third place:
1990–91 Year 199 ( CXCIX) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was sometimes known as year 952 '' Ab urbe condita''. The denomination 199 for this year has been used since t ...
* Grimsby Town Supporters Player of the Year: 1992, 1993


As player manager

Gresley Rovers *
Southern League Premier Division The Southern League is a men's football competition featuring semi-professional clubs from the South and Midlands of England. Together with the Isthmian League and the Northern Premier League it forms levels seven and eight of the English foot ...
winner: 1996–97 Southport * FA Trophy runner-up: 1997–98


References


External links

* *
Gresley Rovers career details
{{DEFAULTSORT:Futcher, Paul 1956 births 2016 deaths Sportspeople from Chester Chester City F.C. players Luton Town F.C. players Manchester City F.C. players Oldham Athletic A.F.C. players Derby County F.C. players Barnsley F.C. players Halifax Town A.F.C. players Grimsby Town F.C. players Dundalk F.C. players Droylsden F.C. players Gresley F.C. players Southport F.C. players England under-21 international footballers English footballers English football managers League of Ireland players Association football defenders Darlington F.C. managers Gresley F.C. managers Southport F.C. managers English Football League players National League (English football) players Stalybridge Celtic F.C. managers Ashton United F.C. managers