David William Preece (28 May 1963 – 20 July 2007) was an English professional footballer who played in

midfield In many sports, midfield is the part of a sports field that is near the line that is equally far from the end lines. That is, in American football it is the part of the field near the 50-yard line; in association football (soccer) and field hoc ...

. He was born in

Bridgnorth Bridgnorth is a market town and civil parish in Shropshire, England. The River Severn splits it into High Town and Low Town, the upper town on the right bank and the lower on the left bank of the River Severn. The population at the United Kingd ...

. He played three times for the

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

B team.

Career

Preece began his career as an apprentice with

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall, in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located ...

, turning professional in July 1980. His debut came the following year, as a substitute in the 2–1 win against Chester City. He was signed by

Luton Town Luton Town Football Club is a professional association football, football club from Luton, Bedfordshire, England. The club currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. Nicknamed "The Hatters", L ...

manager

David Pleat David John Pleat (born 15 January 1945) is an English association football, football player turned manager (association football), manager, and sports commentator. Pleat made 185 Football League appearances for five clubs, scoring 26 goals. He ...

in December 1984 and scored on his debut, a 1–0 win at home to

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club (commonly referred to as simply Villa) is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club, founded in 1874, compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The team have p ...

. He went on to win a League Cup winners medal with Luton in 1988 and played nearly 400 times for Luton's first team. He had a testimonial game against

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

in 1995 before moving to

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club in Derby, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. One of the 12 founder members of the English Football ...

on a free transfer in August that year. He was a bit-part player at Derby, and so he was loaned to both

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. The team compete in the ...

and

Swindon Town Swindon Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team, known as the "Robins", currently compete in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded as Swindon A ...

. In September 1996 he joined

Cambridge United Cambridge United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Cambridge, England. They currently compete in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed the U’s, the club h ...

on a free transfer. He made 75 appearances there and was appointed as manager

Roy McFarland Roy Leslie McFarland (born 5 April 1948) is an English former football manager and player. With Derby County, he played 442 league games, helping him to earn 28 caps for England. Born in Liverpool, McFarland developed his skills at Tranmere Ro ...

's assistant, before he joined

Torquay United Torquay United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Torquay, Devon, England. The team currently compete in the National League South, the sixth level of the English football league system. They have played their ho ...

as a player/coach, again under McFarland in August 2001. His contract with Torquay was terminated in July 2002, a move which also led to McFarland's resignation, with Torquay chairman

Mike Bateson Mike Bateson is an England, English businessman and former chairman of Torquay United F.C., Torquay United Football Club. Bateson was brought up in Blackpool and after a spell in the Scots Guards made his fortune selling double glazing in the Sou ...

claiming cuts were needed after the collapse of

ITV Digital ITV Digital was a British digital terrestrial television broadcaster which launched a pay-TV service on the world's first digital terrestrial television network. Its main shareholders were Carlton Communications plc and Granada plc, owners ...

and subsequent reduction in income. He joined Enfield as a player, but left in December 2002 to become assistant manager of

Stevenage Borough Stevenage Football Club (known as Stevenage Borough Football Club until 2010) is a professional association football club based in the town of Stevenage, Hertfordshire, England. The club competes in EFL League One, the third level of the Engli ...

. However, a change of manager at Stevenage saw Preece return to Enfield as player-coach in February 2003. In May 2003, Preece was appointed as first-team coach of Telford United. In September 2004 he was appointed as assistant manager of

Isthmian League The Isthmian League () is a regional Association football, football league covering Greater London, East of England, East and South East England, featuring mostly semi-professional clubs. Founded in 1905 by amateur clubs in the London area, th ...

side Walton & Hersham. Preece died in the early hours of 20 July 2007 after a short illness. At the time he had been in remission for one year following surgery for

throat cancer Head and neck cancer is a general term encompassing multiple cancers that can develop in the head and neck region. These include cancers of the mouth, tongue, gums and lips ( oral cancer), voice box ( laryngeal), throat ( nasopharyngeal, orophar ...

. The family stand at Luton's

Kenilworth Road Kenilworth Road, known affectionately as The Kenny, is a association football, football stadium in the area of Bury Park, Luton, Bedfordshire, England. It has been the home ground of Luton Town F.C., Luton Town Football Club since 1905. The sta ...

stadium has since been named The David Preece Stand in memory of him.

References

External links

Profile
at official Luton Town website *
NMFE TributeMemory of "Mini" Preece lives on
- tribute on The Roar (an Australian sports opinion website). {{DEFAULTSORT:Preece, David 1963 births 2007 deaths Sportspeople from Bridgnorth Men's association football midfielders English men's footballers England men's B international footballers Luton Town F.C. players Walsall F.C. players Birmingham City F.C. players Derby County F.C. players Swindon Town F.C. players Cambridge United F.C. players Torquay United F.C. players Enfield F.C. players Stevenage F.C. players Footballers from Shropshire English Football League players 20th-century English sportsmen