Fred Ryecraft

Fred Ryecraft
Personal information
Full nameFrederick Ryecraft[1]
Date of birth29 August 1939
Place of birthHayes, England
Playing positionGoalkeeper
Youth career
Southall
1959–1962Brentford
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
1962–1964Brentford33(0)
Gravesend & Northfleet
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.
† Appearances (Goals).

Fred Ryecraft was an English football goalkeeper who appeared in the Football League for Brentford.[1] He was a member of the club's 1962/63 Division Four title-winning team.

Club career

Brentford

A goalkeeper, Ryecraft joined Division Three side Brentford in 1959 after a short spell at Athenian League side Southall.[1] First team goalkeeper Gerry Cakebread's durability meant that a spell doing national service saw Ryecraft confined to the club's reserve team, until the first team's relegation to Division Four in 1962. Ryecraft finally made his first team debut in a 2-1 defeat to Gillingham on 21 August 1962.[2] He went on to make 18 appearances during the 1962/63 season as the Bees returned to Division Three at the first time of asking, sealing the Division Four title at the end of the campaign.[3] Ryecraft made 20 appearances during the 1963/64 season,[3] but mainly appeared for the reserves and was released in the summer of 1964.[1] Ryecraft made a total of 38 first team appearances for the Bees and along with Micky Ball and Johnny Hales, is one of three players to make over 150 appearances for the Brentford reserve team.[3][4]

Gravesend & Northfleet

After his release from Brentford, Ryecraft dropped back into non-league football and appeared for Southern League Division One side Gravesend & Northfleet.[1]

Representative career

While undertaking his national service, Ryecraft appeared for the British Army representative team. He played on a tour of South East Asia in 1962 and was a member of the victorious Kentish Cup-winning side the same year.[1][5][6]

Personal life

While on national service in the British Army, Ryecraft was a member of the Royal Army Service Corps.[6]

Honours

British Army

Brentford

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Haynes, Graham; Coumbe, Frank (2006). Timeless Bees: Brentford F.C. Who's Who 1920-2006. Harefield: Yore Publications. pp. 139–140. ISBN 978-0955294914.
  2. http://www.brentfordfchistory.co.uk/matchdetails.php?id=1963
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 http://www.brentfordfchistory.co.uk/player.php?id=595
  4. Brentford F.C. Griffin Gazette versus Chester City 15/04/95. Quay Design of Poole. 1995. p. 29.
  5. http://www.armyfa.com/about/history
  6. 6.0 6.1 http://www.rsssf.com/tablesb/barmysea62.html