Dave Bamber

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Dave Bamber
Personal information
Full name	David Bamber
Date of birth	February 1, 1959 (age 47)
Place of birth	Prescot, England
Height	6'3"
Nickname	Bambs
Position	Forward (retired)
Professional clubs*
Years	Club	Apps (goals)
1979-1982 1983-1983 1983-1984 1984-1984 1985-1987 1988-1988 1988-1989 1989-1990 1990-1994	Blackpool Coventry Walsall Portsmouth Swindon Watford Stoke Hull City Blackpool Total	86 (29) 19 (3) 20 (7) 4 (1) 106 (31) 18 (3) 43 (8) 28 (5) 113 (60) 437 (147)
* Professional club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 23 July 2006.

David Bamber (born February 1, 1959, in Prescot, England) is a retired professional footballer. In youth and junior football, he played for Manchester University and St. Helens Town.

He began his professional career at Blackpool in 1979. During the next four years of struggle, Bamber scored 36 goals in 100 games (in all competitions) under four different managers.

In 1982/83 he was the division's top scorer, and Coventry came in for his services. Blackpool, though sad to see Bamber leave, had the emerging of Paul Stewart to fall back on.

He went on to play for six other clubs before returning to his first club to bring his fifteen-year playing career to a close. He was re-signed to Blackpool initially on loan, in December 1990, by the departing Graham Carr. A month later, new Seasiders manager Billy Ayre agreed to pay Hull £50,000 for his services.

Bamber played at Wembley twice in successive seasons (1990-91 and 1991-92) in his second spell at Blackpool, both in the end-of-season play-off finals, and both of which went to penalty shoot-outs. In the first final, against Torquay, Bamber put his spot-kick wide of Gareth Howells' left-hand post, handing promotion to the Tangerines' south-coast opponents. The following year, however, Blackpool were victorious in the same manner against Scunthorpe and were promoted to the new Division Two. Bamber, who played despite needing an operation on his knee, scored Blackpool's regulation-time goal.

[edit] Trivia

• After Blackpool's loss to Torquay in the 1990-91 play-off final, the Gulls named their fanzine Bamber's Right Foot, in mockery of the Seasiders striker's penalty miss.
• Scored a hat-trick for Blackpool in a 4-2 win over Mansfield Town on August 27, 1991, in the first round, second leg of the League Cup, putting the Tangerines through to a second-round date against Barnsley.
• Also nicknamed "Dipper Bamber" for the way he lurched forward to head the ball.
• Near the end of his career, he could be seen doing weird pre-match back exercises on the pitch.

[edit] External links

• Bamber's profile at soccerbase.com
• Stoke City profile