John Archer (footballer, born 1941)

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For other people with the same name, see John Archer (disambiguation).

John Archer
Personal information
Full name John Archer[1]
Date of birth (1941-06-18) 18 June 1941 (age 80)[1]
Place of birth Biddulph, England[1]
Position(s) Inside forward; midfielder
Youth career
Port Vale
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1958–1961 Port Vale 10 (3)
1961–1966 Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic 139 (37)
1966–1968 Crewe Alexandra 59 (16)
1967–1968 → Huddersfield Town (loan) 9 (0)
1969–1972 Chesterfield 116 (24)
Total 333 (80)
Teams managed
1972–1974 Sandbach Ramblers
Nantwich Town
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

John Archer (born 18 June 1941) is an English former footballer who played as a midfielder and inside forward for five professional teams.

He began his career with Port Vale in July 1958, before moving on to Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic in May 1961. Five years later he signed with Crewe Alexandra. He helped the club to win promotion out of the Fourth Division in 1967–68, but left the club at the end of the season, following a loan spell with Huddersfield Town. He then signed with Chesterfield, and helped the club to the Fourth Division title in 1969–70. He later played for Sandbach Ramblers and Nantwich Town, and scouted for Chesterfield.

Playing career[]

Port Vale[]

Archer graduated through the Port Vale junior squad to sign as a professional in July 1958.[1] He made his Third Division debut in the 1959–60 campaign under manager Norman Low. He scored twice against Wrexham in a 3–1 victory at Vale Park on 16 April 1960, finishing the campaign with three goals in six games.[1] However, he featured just four times on 1960–61, and was moved on to league rivals Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic on a free transfer in May 1961, then managed by Bill McGarry.[1]

Bournemouth[]

Bournemouth were pushing promotion, and finished in third place, three points short of promotion in 1961–62. They finished in fifth place in 1962–63, six points short of their target. A fourth-place finish followed in 1963–64, four points shy of promotion. They then dropped to eleventh place in 1964–65 under Reg Flewin. Archer left the club following a further slip down the table in 1965–66 under Freddie Cox's stewardship. He scored 37 goals in 139 league games during his time on the south coast.

Crewe Alexandra[]

He then moved on to Ernie Tagg's Crewe Alexandra for a £3,000 fee and was converted from an inside forward into a midfielder.[2] Crewe were aiming for promotion in the Fourth Division, but the "Railwaymen" finished fifth in 1966–67, four points short of promotion. Archer was finally promoted in 1967–68, as Crewe finished in fourth place, ahead of Bradford City by just one point. He was loaned out to Huddersfield Town in the 1967–68 campaign, and played nine Second Division games without scoring under Tom Johnston.

Chesterfield[]

Archer remained in the Fourth Division after putting pen to paper with Jimmy McGuigan's Chesterfield, where he was also appointed club captain.[2] After finishing just one place and two points above the re-election zone in 1968–69, the "Spireites" topped the division in 1969–70; Archer scored two goals direct from corners during the 1969–70 season.[2] They then finished fifth in 1970–71, nine points short of a second successive promotion. Archer retired after the club finished in mid-table in 1971–72. He played a total of 129 games for Chesterfield, scoring 24 goals.

Style of play[]

Able to play as an inside forward or midfielder, Archer was a slow, stocky and aggressive player who had good technical qualities, vision and set piece ability.[2]

Later career[]

After retiring as a player, Archer worked as manager at Sandbach Ramblers and Nantwich Town.[2] He also scouted in Wales and the West Country for former club Chesterfield.[2] He also worked as a greenkeeper at Malkins Bank course, near Sandbach.[2] He also served as the President of the Wrekin Federation of Pigeon Fanciers.[2]

Statistics[]

Source:[3]

Club Season Division League FA Cup Other Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Port Vale 1959–60 Third Division 6 3 0 0 0 0 6 3
1960–61 Third Division 4 0 0 0 0 0 4 0
Total 10 3 0 0 0 0 10 3
Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic Third Division 42 13 1 0 3 0 46 13
Third Division 21 4 1 0 1 0 23 4
Third Division 11 5 1 0 3 0 15 5
Third Division 40 11 2 0 1 0 43 11
Third Division 25 4 4 2 2 1 31 7
Total 139 37 9 2 10 1 158 40
Crewe Alexandra Fourth Division 34 6 3 0 0 0 37 6
Fourth Division 25 10 1 1 2 1 28 12
Total 59 16 4 1 2 1 65 18
Huddersfield Town (loan) 1967–68 Second Division 9 0 0 0 0 0 9 0
Chesterfield Fourth Division 42 12 1 0 3 1 46 13
Third Division 45 6 3 0 1 0 49 6
Third Division 29 6 3 0 3 1 35 7
Total 116 24 7 0 6 2 129 26
Career total 333 80 20 3 18 4 371 87

Honours[]

Crewe Alexandra
Chesterfield

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f Kent, Jeff (1996). Port Vale Personalities. Witan Books. p. 8. ISBN 0-9529152-0-0.
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h i "Sky is Blue - The Chesterfield FC history resource". Sky is Blue - The Chesterfield FC history resource. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
  3. ^ John Archer at the English National Football Archive (subscription required)
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