Derek Tapscott
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| Derek Tapscott | ||
| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Derek Robert Tapscott | |
| Date of birth | June 30, 1932 | |
| Place of birth | Barry, Wales | |
| Playing position | Inside right | |
| Youth clubs | ||
| Barry Town | ||
| Senior clubs1 | ||
| Years | Club | App (Gls)* |
| 1953-1958 1958-1965 1965-1966 |
Arsenal Cardiff City Newport County |
119 (62) 194 (79) 13 (1) |
| National team | ||
| 1954-? | Wales | 14 (4) |
|
1 Senior club appearances and goals |
||
Derek Robert Tapscott (born June 30, 1932) is a Welsh former football player.
Born in Barry, Tapscott played for Barry Town as a youth whilst employed as a bricklayer, before being signed by Tom Whittaker for Arsenal for £4,000 in October 1953. After a prolific run in the reserves (scoring thirteen goals in fifteen matches), he made his first-team debut against Liverpool on April 10, 1954 and scored twice. Tapscott went on to score five more goals in as many matches that season.
The young Welsh inside forward became a regular the following season (1954-55), missing only five matches, and despite not being the centre forward was the club's top goalscorer in both 1955-56 and 1956-57 with 21 and 27 goals respectively.
He made his debut for Wales not long after his Arsenal debut, on May 9, 1954 against Austria in a qualifier for the 1958 FIFA World Cup. However, Tapscott did not go to Sweden for the tournament itself, reportedly after refusing to sign for Cardiff City. Nevertheless, he still won 14 caps for his country, scoring four goals.
An injury sustained in the 1957-58 playing for Wales put Tapscott out of the Arsenal first team, and he struggled to oust his replacement Vic Groves once he returned to fitness. He left Arsenal in September 1958, ironically moving to Cardiff City. In all he scored 68 goals in 132 matches for Arsenal.
Tapscott spent seven seasons with the Bluebirds, helping the club get promoted to the First Division in 1960. He once scored six in a single match - a 16-0 win against Knighton Town in the Welsh Cup - a club record that stands to this day. Tapscott left Cardiff in 1965 and saw out his career with Newport County. After retiring from playing he moved into business, working in the sporting goods trade for Gola, and wrote his autobiography, entitled Tappy (ISBN 1-904091-09-1).
[edit] References
- Harris, Jeff & Hogg, Tony (ed.) (1995). Arsenal Who's Who. Independent UK Sports. ISBN 1-899429-03-4.
