Ben Burley

Ben Burley
Personal information
Full nameBenjamin Burley
Date of birth2 November 1907
Place of birthSheffield, England
Date of deathNot known
Playing positionOutside-forward
Youth career
Darnall School
Netherhope Institute
Woodhouse Mill United
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
1931–1933Sheffield United0(0)
1933–1934Southampton2(0)
1934–1935Grimsby Town22(5)
1935–1938Norwich City35(4)
1938–1939Darlington35(7)
1939–1940Chelmsford City
Teams managed
1951–1954Chelmsford City
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.
† Appearances (Goals).

Benjamin "Ben" Burley (born 2 November 1907)[1] was an English professional footballer who played as an outside-forward for various clubs in the 1930s, including Southampton, Grimsby Town, Norwich City and Darlington.[2] He was later a coach before becoming manager of Chelmsford City in the 1950s.

Football career

Playing career

Burley was born in Sheffield where he was educated at Darnall School and played football as a youth for Netherhope Institute and Woodhouse Mill United. He also played schoolboy football for the Sheffield and Yorkshire F.A.s.[1]

In November 1931, he joined Sheffield United but never made any first-team appearances before a transfer to the south coast to join Southampton of the Football League Second Division in September 1933. Described as a "stocky and thrustful winger",[1] he was used as cover for Fred Tully and Bill Luckett and his only first-team appearances came at outside-left in the last two matches of the 1933–34 season, both defeats.[3]

In the summer of 1934, he moved to Grimsby Town who had just been promoted to the First Division. Burley remained for a season, scoring five goals in 22 appearances[2] as Grimsby finished fifth in the league, their highest-ever league position.[4]

Burley moved on in the summer of 1935, to return to the Second Division with Norwich City. He made his debut on 7 September 1935[5] and played 35 league matches, scoring four goals,[2][6] over a three-year period, before joining Darlington in May 1938. In his one season at Feethams, Burley rarely missed a match in the Third Division North, scoring seven goals from 35 league appearances.[2]

In July 1939, he dropped out of the Football League to join Chelmsford City, who had joined the Southern League a year earlier. In a season which was truncated because of the Second World War, Chelmsford won the Eastern section and then drew with Lovell's Athletic in the play-offs; both teams were declared joint champions.[7]

During the war, Burley played as a guest for various clubs, including Southend United, Millwall, Brighton & Hove Albion, Queens Park Rangers and Crystal Palace.[1]

Coaching and management career

After the war, Burley obtained his F.A. coaching badge, before working as a coach in the Netherlands.[1]

In June 1951, he returned to Chelmsford City, initially as a coach,[1] before replacing Billy Walsh as manager in August.[8] In Burley's three seasons in charge at Chelmsford, the club finished in the lower half of the Southern League table[7] and in 1954, Burley was replaced by Frank Grice. In his time as manager, Chelmsford City played 105 matches, of which 30 were won, 21 drawn and 54 lost.[9]

Honours

Chelmsford City

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Holley, Duncan; Chalk, Gary (1992). The Alphabet of the Saints. ACL & Polar Publishing. p. 54. ISBN 0-9514862-3-3.
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Joyce, Michael (2004). Football League Players' Records 1888 to 1939. Nottingham: Tony Brown. p. 43. ISBN 1-899468-67-6.
  3. Chalk, Gary; Holley, Duncan (1987). Saints – A complete record. Breedon Books. p. 95. ISBN 0-907969-22-4.
  4. "Grimsby Town". Football Club History Database. Retrieved 3 November 2012.
  5. "NCFC Players". Sing Up the River End!. canaryseventyninety. Retrieved 3 November 2012.
  6. "Norwich City Appearances". Sing Up the River End!. canaryseventyninety. 7 February 2012. Retrieved 3 November 2012.
  7. 7.0 7.1 "Chelmsford City". Football Club History Database. Retrieved 3 November 2012.
  8. "City's past player-manager". This is Essex. 24 March 2011. Retrieved 3 November 2012.
  9. Selby, David. "List of City Managers and their league records". The Chelmsford City Historian. Retrieved 3 November 2012.

External links