Colin David Bettany (born 15 June 1932) 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 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

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 ...

and

Torquay United Torquay United Football Club is a professional football club based in Torquay, Devon, England. The team currently compete in the , the fifth tier of English football. They have played their home matches at Plainmoor since 1921 and are nicknamed ...

. Bettany, a

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, 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 l ...

-born full back, was an

amateur An amateur () is generally considered a person who pursues an avocation independent from their source of income. Amateurs and their pursuits are also described as popular, informal, autodidacticism, self-taught, user-generated, do it yourself, DI ...

with his local side

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 ...

when he signed professional forms with

in August 1953. Six goals from 29 league games led to a transfer to

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional 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. Since 2011, the first te ...

in June 1955, but in two years at St Andrew's he was never to make a league appearance. In April 1957 he joined

, making his debut at

centre forward Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

on the opening day of the following season in a 3–0 defeat away to

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 ...

. After three games Bettany lost his place as Torquay manager Eric Webber shuffled his side to allow

Dennis Lewis Dennis Lewis (born 1940) is a non-fiction writer and teacher in the areas of breathing, qigong, meditation, and self-enquiry. In the book ''The Complete Idiot's Guide to Taoism'' Lewis is recommended as a source of instruction in Taoism for peop ...

to return after injury. After two games on the sidelines, Bettany returned to the side, but at full-back where he was to establish himself. Between 4 April 1958 and 31 August 1963, Bettany was an ever-present in the Torquay league side (a run of 195 consecutive appearances, a figure bettered only by Lewis for Torquay. This spell included all 46 games in Torquay's 1959–60 Fourth Division

promotion Promotion may refer to: Marketing * Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...

season. He eventually made 335 league appearances, scoring four times, before returning to the Midlands, joining

non-league Non-League football describes football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is specifically used to de ...

club

Nuneaton Borough Nuneaton Borough Football Club is an English football club that is based in Nuneaton, Warwickshire. The men's 1st team competes in the , the seventh tier of English football. In 1889, Nuneaton St. Nicholas FC was the first team in Nuneaton t ...

References

External links

* 1932 births Living people Footballers from Leicester English men's footballers Men's association football defenders Crewe Alexandra F.C. players Birmingham City F.C. players Torquay United F.C. players Nuneaton Borough F.C. players English Football League players {{England-footy-defender-1930s-stub