Ivor John Seemley (30 June 1929 – 1 November 2014) was an English professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played as a left back in

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in the world, and was the top-level football league in England from ...

for

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an off ...

Stockport County Stockport County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Stockport, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in EFL League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1883 as Heaton ...

, and Chesterfield and in

non-League football Non-League football describes association football, football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is ...

for Ilkeston Town and Sutton Town.

Career

Born in

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...

West Riding of Yorkshire The West Riding of Yorkshire was one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the riding was an administrative county named County of York, West Riding. The Lord Lieutenant of the West Riding of Yorkshire, lieu ...

, Seemley started his career with his boyhood club

, progressing through the youth teams to turn professional shortly after his 17th birthday in 1946. He had to wait a while for his debut for the club, making his first appearance in December 1953. He was part of the side that reached the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

semi-final in 1954, eventually losing 2–0 to

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional association football club in Preston, Lancashire, England. They currently play in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English footbal ...

. He left in the summer of 1955 to join

Football League Third Division North The Third Division North of the Football League was a tier in the English football league system from 1921 to 1958. It ran in parallel with the Third Division South with clubs elected to the League or relegated from a higher division allocated t ...

side

, having made 23 appearances in all competitions. He was first choice left-back for the two seasons he spent at

Edgeley Park Edgeley Park is a association football, football stadium in Edgeley, Stockport, England. Built for Stockport RFC, a rugby league club, in 1891, by 1903 the rugby club was defunct and Stockport County F.C., Stockport County Football Club moved i ...

making 81 league appearances. In 1957 he joined divisional rivals Chesterfield in exchange for Billy Sowden. He was a first team regular for Chesterfield making 77 league appearances before retiring from professional football in 1959. He later dropped into non-league football with Ilkeston Town and Sutton Town.

Personal life

After retiring from full-time football he worked at a sales office for a steel company in Sheffield. He died on 1 November 2014 in Sheffield at the age of 85.

References

1929 births 2014 deaths Footballers from Sheffield English men's footballers Men's association football defenders Sheffield Wednesday F.C. players Stockport County F.C. players Chesterfield F.C. players Ilkeston Town F.C. (1945) players Ashfield United F.C. players English Football League players 20th-century English sportsmen {{England-footy-defender-1920s-stub