Peter Frank Broadbent (15 May 1933 – 1 October 2013) was an English

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 ...

. He won major domestic honours with

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...

and played in the 1958 FIFA World Cup.

Career

In his autobiography,

George Best George Best (22 May 1946 – 25 November 2005) was a Northern Irish professional footballer who played as a winger, spending most of his club career at Manchester United. A highly skilful dribbler, Best is regarded as one of the greatest p ...

said he was a Wolves fan and that Broadbent was the player he most admired; the pair became friends in later life. Alex Ferguson also stated that, during his youth, Broadbent had been his favourite player. Broadbent started his career with non-league Dover FC until he was signed by Brentford. He only spent a short time there before he was snapped up by Wolves, one of the top sides in the English league at the time, in February 1951 for a £10,000 fee. He would remain at the Black Country club for the next 14 years, scoring well over 100 goals and winning three league titles and an FA Cup, as well as being capped seven times at the highest level by

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. He played his last Football League game in April 1970 for Stockport County.

Personal life

Broadbent attended school in

Deal A deal, or deals may refer to: Places United States * Deal, New Jersey, a borough * Deal, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * Deal Lake, New Jersey Elsewhere * Deal Island (Tasmania), Australia * Deal, Kent, a town in England * Deal, ...

. After his retirement from football, he ran a babywear shop in

Halesowen Halesowen ( ) is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley, in the county of West Midlands, England. Historically an exclave of Shropshire and, from 1844, in Worcestershire, the town is around from Birmingham city centre, and fro ...

with his wife Shirley. They later settled in

Codsall Codsall is a large village in the South Staffordshire district of Staffordshire, England. It is situated 4.5 miles northwest of the city of Wolverhampton and 13 miles east-southeast of Telford. It forms part of the boundary of the Staffordshire ...

. In April 2007, it was reported that Broadbent, now in his 74th year, was suffering from Alzheimer's disease, which had become evident in his mid-60s and was living in a

care home A nursing home is a facility for the residential care of elderly or disabled people. Nursing homes may also be referred to as skilled nursing facility (SNF) or long-term care facilities. Often, these terms have slightly different meanings to i ...

near

Wolverhampton Wolverhampton () is a city, metropolitan borough and administrative centre in the West Midlands, England. The population size has increased by 5.7%, from around 249,500 in 2011 to 263,700 in 2021. People from the city are called "Wulfrunians ...

. On 1 October 2013 he died, aged 80, having suffered from Alzheimer's for some 15 years.

Honours

As a player

;Wolverhampton Wanderers * First Division (3): 1953–54, 1957–58, 1958–59 *

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

(1): 1959–60 * FA Charity Shield (1):

1959 Events January * January 1 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 - Lunar probe Luna 1 was the first man-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reached the vicinity of E ...

As an individual

* Wolverhampton Wanderers Hall of Fame

References

Notes Written works * {{DEFAULTSORT:Broadbent, Peter 1933 births 2013 deaths English footballers England international footballers England B international footballers England under-23 international footballers English Football League players 1958 FIFA World Cup players Brentford F.C. players Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. players Shrewsbury Town F.C. players Aston Villa F.C. players Stockport County F.C. players People from Dover District Deaths from Alzheimer's disease English Football League representative players Bromsgrove Rovers F.C. players Association football midfielders FA Cup Final players Deaths from dementia in England