Paul Futcher

Paul Futcher (25 September 1956 – 23 November 2016) was an English professional footballer who had a distinguished career as a defender in the English Football League, for England under 21s and as manager of several non-league clubs.

Paul Futcher
Personal information
Full name Paul Futcher[1]
Date of birth (1956-09-25)25 September 1956[1]
Place of birth Chester,[1] England
Date of death 23 November 2016(2016-11-23) (aged 60)[1]
Place of death Sheffield,[1] England
Height 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)[2]
Position(s) Centre back
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1972–1973 Chester City 20 (0)
1974–1977 Luton Town 131 (1)
1978–1979 Manchester City 37 (0)
1980–1982 Oldham Athletic 98 (1)
1982–1983 Derby County 35 (0)
1983–1989 Barnsley 230 (0)
1990 Halifax Town 15 (0)
1991–1994 Grimsby Town 132 (0)
1994–1995 Dundalk
1995 Droylsden
1995–1997 Gresley Rovers
1997–2000 Southport 65 (0)
Total 763 (2)
International career
1976–1978 England Under-21s 11 (0)
Managerial career
1995 Darlington
1995–1997 Gresley Rovers (player)
1997–2000 Southport (player)
2001–2002 Stalybridge Celtic
2005 Ashton United
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

He is regarded as a club legend by Grimsby Town who signed him at the age of 35 when he was apparently past his best. He went on to be described as one of the club's greatest ever players.[3] Prior to his time with Grimsby he had enjoyed lengthy spells with Luton Town, Oldham Athletic and Barnsley as well as playing for Chester, Manchester City, Derby County and Halifax Town. After leaving Grimsby in 1994 he played for Dundalk before moving into management.

Playing career

Futcher was the defensive half of twin brothers. His brother was centre-forward Ron.

Futcher began his career with hometown club Chester, who he made his debut for as a 16-year-old against Cambridge United in March 1973. This came just a fortnight after his older brother Graham had played his final game for the club and seven months before Ron made his debut for the Blues. Futcher quickly turned professional and had made 20 Football League appearances when Luton Town snapped him up for £100,000 in the summer of 1974. Ron joined him on the journey south, where Paul was to play more than 140 games and won ten England under 21 caps.

Futcher was the most expensive defender in England when he became Manchester City's record signing for £350,000 on 1 June 1978.[4] He replaced club stalwart Tommy Booth in the side which failed to live up to expectations and as the major new signing he attracted criticism. Booth won his place back, and on 1 July 1979 Futcher left Maine Road for a fee of £150,000 and joined Second Division Oldham Athletic.

Futcher had twice been chosen for the England squad and each time a road accident had put paid to him fulfilling the invitation.[5]

Futcher was signed by Grimsby Town from Halifax Town reserves, aged 34, by Alan Buckley for £10,000 as a short-term replacement for Andy Tillson. He went on to be a fans' favourite for five seasons, winning the Supporters Player of the Year twice in that time. Then his son Ben Futcher joined the club for their League Two play-off final season of 2005–06 before he left for Peterborough United.

During his time at Grimsby, Futcher was held in high esteem by the club's supporters. Following the arrival of Brian Laws as manager and a poor performance in a match against Oldham Athletic, he departed in 1994, but remains thought of as one of the club's best-ever players.

He later played for Dundalk where he played in UEFA Cup Qualifying Round against Malmo.

Management and coaching

Gresley Rovers

Futcher led Rovers to the Dr. Martens Premier Division championship in 1997; they were not promoted to the Conference because their ground failed to meet Conference standards. During this time, they regularly played against now EFL League One club, Burton Albion, often beating them.

Southport

The highlight of his two-and-a-half year stint with Southport was the club's FA Trophy final outing in 1998, where at 41; Futcher became the oldest player to appear in a competitive Wembley final.

The Sandgrounders narrowly lost to Cheltenham Town, and the remainder of the former Manchester City man's Haig Avenue tenure was blemished by successful relegation scraps.

Ashton United

Futcher was unable to save the Robins from relegation to the Northern Premier League. He subsequently failed to motivate the squad (using nearly 50 players in 10 months) and left in December 2005.

Personal life and death

Futcher's twin brother Ron played in the Football League as well as being a top scorer in the North American Soccer League; and their older brother Graham also played professionally at Chester City. Paul's son Ben has extensive Football League experience. He is also the uncle of former Premier League midfielder Danny Murphy.[6]

On 23 November 2016, Futcher died of cancer.[7] Former club Grimsby Town described him as "one of the greatest footballers ever to have graced Blundell Park", adding that "It is impossible to describe the complete admiration we had for him, or the feeling inside as his wonderful abilities dominated matches. He was a complete one-off. Even though you had watched him come away with the ball in the most desperate of circumstances, you could never quite work out how he had done it! He was nothing short of a genius!"[3]

A minute's silence was observed at Grimsby's next fixture a 3–2 away defeat at Crawley Town.[8] Whilst Grimsby also announced they would hold a minutes applause for him in their next home game against Portsmouth.[9]

Honours

As player

Grimsby Town

As player manager

Gresley Rovers

Southport

References
  1. "Paul Futcher". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 8 July 2020.
  2. Dunk, Peter, ed. (1987). Rothmans Football Yearbook 1987–88. London: Queen Anne Press. p. 54. ISBN 978-0-356-14354-5.
  3. "R.I.P. Paul Futcher".
  4. Paul Futcher at Sporting-Heroes.net
  5. Official Grimsby Town site Archived 16 October 2006 at the Wayback Machine Paul Futcher profile
  6. https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/former-barnsley-footballer-dies-age-60-1787178
  7. "The Paul Futcher Fund". Melanoma UK. Retrieved 13 September 2017.
  8. "REPORT: Crawley Town 3-2 Grimsby Town".
  9. "Paul Futcher – Funeral Details".
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