Andrew Paul Needham (born 13 September 1955) is an English former 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 scored 30 goals from 103 appearances in the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

playing for

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. The team compete in the ...

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...

and

Aldershot Aldershot ( ) is a town in the Rushmoor district, Hampshire, England. It lies on heathland in the extreme north-east corner of the county, south-west of London. The town has a population of 37,131, while the Farnborough/Aldershot built-up are ...

. He played as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

Career

Needham was born in

Oldham Oldham is a town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies amongst the Pennines on elevated ground between the rivers River Irk, Irk and River Medlock, Medlock, southeast of Rochdale, and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative cent ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

. When he left school in 1971, he joined

as an apprentice, and turned professional two years later. He made his debut in the

First Division 1st Division or First Division may refer to: Military Airborne divisions *1st Parachute Division (Germany) *1st Airborne Division (United Kingdom) * 1st Airmobile Division (Ukraine) * 1st Guards Airborne Division Armoured divisions *1st Armoure ...

on 20 March 1976, deputising for

Peter Withe Peter Withe (; born 30 August 1951) is an English former football Manager (association football), manager and Forward (association football)#Striker, striker who played between 1971 and 1990. At Nottingham Forest F.C., Nottingham Forest he won ...

in a 1–1 draw at home to

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is an English professional football club based in Coventry, West Midlands. The club plays in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club is nicknamed The Sky Blues after the sky blue colou ...

, came on as substitute to score in the next game, and started the next. Those were the only first-team appearances he made for Birmingham. He signed for

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

club

in the 1976 close season, but after only five league appearances he moved on again in March 1977, this time to

of the Fourth Division. At Aldershot he formed a good partnership with fellow new arrival John Dungworth. Dungworth was a prolific goalscorer – 58 league goals from 105 games, compared with Needham's 29 from 95 – but Needham's contribution was described by teammate Alex McGregor thus: A hip injury forced Needham's retirement from League football in 1980 at the age of 24, and he became a taxi driver.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Needham, Andy 1955 births Living people English men's footballers Footballers from Oldham Men's association football forwards Birmingham City F.C. players Blackburn Rovers F.C. players Aldershot F.C. players English Football League players