William James Glazier (born 2 August 1943) is an English retired 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

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

. He is best remembered for his time 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 ...

with

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 ...

, for whom he made over 390 appearances and is a member of the club's Hall of Fame. He was capped by England at U23 level and represented the

Football League XI The English Football League XI was a representative side of the Football League. The team regularly played against the Scottish Football League XI and other national league select teams between 1891 and 1976. For a long period the annual fixture b ...

Club career

Early years

Glazier's involvement in football began with a spell as a member of the ground staff at Third Division club

Torquay United Torquay United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Torquay, Devon, England. The team currently compete in the National League South, the sixth level of the English football league system. They have played their ho ...

, before he was released due to lack of funds.

Crystal Palace

In October 1961, Glazier joined Third Division club Crystal Palace on trial, which was arranged by virtue of his family's bread delivery man being a personal friend of Palace

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

Johnny McNichol. Glazier was signed on the strength of his performance for the Palace 'A' team in a match versus

Dover Dover ( ) is a town and major ferry port in Kent, southeast England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies southeast of Canterbury and east of Maidstone. ...

. He quickly displaced Vic Rouse as first-choice goalkeeper and was an ever-present during the 1963–64 season, in which the club secured promotion to the Second Division with a runners-up finish. Glazier departed

Selhurst Park Selhurst Park is a football stadium in Selhurst, in the London Borough of Croydon, England, which is the home ground of Premier League club Crystal Palace. The stadium was designed by Archibald Leitch and opened in 1924. It has hosted interna ...

in October 1964, after making 113 appearances for Palace.

Coventry City

In October 1964, the manager of Second Division club

Jimmy Hill James William Thomas Hill, Order of the British Empire, OBE (22 July 1928 – 19 December 2015) was an English football in England, footballer and later a television personality. His career included almost every role in the sport, including pla ...

, signed Glazier for a then world-record fee for a

of £35,000. Glazier suffered a broken leg in a match versus

Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

in April 1965, which kept him out of the game for a year. He returned to play in the Coventry team which won the Second Division title in the 1966–67 season. Now playing in the First Division, Glazier continued as the club's first-choice goalkeeper until August 1975. He was awarded a

testimonial In promotion and advertising, a testimonial or show consists of a person's written or spoken statement extolling the virtue of a product. The term "testimonial" most commonly applies to the sales-pitches attributed to ordinary citizens, whe ...

in November 1974 versus an England 1966 World Cup XI, with Glazier scoring twice in a 6–6 draw. Glazier made 392 appearances in 11 years at

Highfield Road Highfield Road was a football stadium in the city of Coventry, England. It was the home ground for Coventry City for 106 years. History It was built in 1899 in the Hillfields district, close to the city centre, and staged its final game on 30 ...

. He twice won the Coventry City Player of the Year award ( 1968–69 and 1973–74) and was inducted into the club's Hall of Fame.

Brentford

Glazier dropped down to the Fourth Division to sign for

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West (London sub region), West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the River Thames, Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has dive ...

for a £12,500 fee in August 1975. The move was helped along by Jimmy Hill (by now working as a broadcaster), who put Glazier in touch with Brentford manager John Docherty, who had been looking for a goalkeeper after loanee Steve Sherwood returned to Chelsea. Business interests and problems commuting from his

Brighton Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...

home meant that Glazier couldn't give his full commitment to the Bees and he left the club after making just 12 appearances.

St. Louis Stars

Glazier ended his career with a spell at

North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League (NASL) was the top-level major professional soccer league in the United States and Canada that operated from 1968 to 1984. It is considered the first soccer league to be successful on a national scale in the ...

club St. Louis Stars in

1977 Events January * January 8 – 1977 Moscow bombings, Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (no ...

International and representative career

Glazier won three caps for the England U23 team and kept a

clean sheet In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which the losing team fails to score. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usually seen as a result of ...

in each match. One of Glazier's caps came against

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

at Highfield Road (home of his then-club side Coventry City) drew a crowd of 27,476, one of the highest attendances for an U23 match in England. A broken leg suffered with Coventry City in 1965 cut short Glazier's international career, as he was over the age-limit after returning to fitness. In March 1970, Glazer played for 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 ...

in a 3–2 win over its Scottish counterparts.

Personal life

Early in his career, Glazier lived in Brighton, where his parents ran a

guesthouse A guest house (or guesthouse, also rest house) is a kind of lodging. In some parts of the world (such as the Caribbean), a guest house is a type of inexpensive hotel-like lodging. In others, it is a private home that has been converted for the e ...

. After retiring from football, Glazier ran a hotel in Brighton before moving to Spain for 12 years, where he worked in swimming pool maintenance. He returned to the UK in 1998 and settled in

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (), abbreviated ''Lincs'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands and Yorkshire and the Humber regions of England. It is bordered by the East Riding of Yorkshire across the Humber estuary to th ...

, where he began a catering business with his wife.

Honours

Crystal Palace *

Football League Third Division The Football League Third Division was the third tier of the English football league system in 1920–21 Football League, 1920–21 and again from 1958–59 Football League, 1958 until 1991–92 Football League, 1992. When the FA Premier League ...

second-place promotion (1): 1963–64 Coventry City *

Football League Second Division The Football League Second Division was the second level division in the English football league system between 1892 and 1992. Following the foundation of the FA Premier League, the Football League divisions were renumbered and the third tier ...

(1): 1966–67 Individual *

Player of the Year (2): 1968–69, 1973–74 * Coventry City Hall of Fame

Career statistics

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Glazier, Bill 1943 births Living people English men's footballers English Football League players Crystal Palace F.C. players Coventry City F.C. players Brentford F.C. players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players St. Louis Stars (soccer) players England men's under-23 international footballers English Football League representative players Men's association football goalkeepers Footballers from Nottingham English expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Torquay United F.C. non-playing staff English expatriate sportspeople in Spain English expatriate sportspeople in the United States