Robert McDicker Bell (16 September 1934 – March 2007) was a Scottish

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

right back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

. He played in the

Scottish football league system The Scottish football league system is a series of generally connected leagues for Scottish football clubs. The Scottish system is more complicated than many other national league systems, consisting of several completely separate systems or 'gr ...

for

Falkirk Falkirk ( ; ; ) is a town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, historically within the county of Stirlingshire. It lies in the Forth Valley, northwest of Edinburgh and northeast of Glasgow. Falkirk had a resident population of 32,422 at the ...

and Ayr United, before spending the majority of his playing career at English

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 ...

club

Watford Watford () is a town and non-metropolitan district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of Central London, on the banks of the River Colne, Hertfordshire, River Colne. Initially a smal ...

. He later moved into English

amateur football Amateur sports are sports in which participants engage largely or entirely without remuneration. The distinction is made between amateur sporting participants and professional sporting participants, who are paid for the time they spend competing a ...

, first as a player, and later as a coach and manager.

Playing career

Born in the Scottish town of

Ayr Ayr ( ; ; , meaning "confluence of the River Àir"), is a town situated on the southwest coast of Scotland. A former royal burgh, today it is the administrative centre of South Ayrshire Council, and the historic county town of Ayrshire. With ...

on September 16, 1934, Bell played in Scottish Junior Football for Whitletts Victoria, and also for the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

during his national service. Bell turned professional in August 1954 when he signed for

Scottish Football League The Scottish Football League (SFL) is a defunct league featuring professional and semi-professional football clubs mostly from Scotland.One club, Berwick Rangers, is based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, which is located approximately 4&nbs ...

side

.Jones p. 38 Manager

Bob Shankly Robert Fleming Blyth Shankly (25 February 1910 – 5 May 1982) was a Scottish professional football player and manager. He was an elder brother of Bill Shankly, the former Liverpool manager. Shankly is considered one of Dundee's greatest manage ...

selected Bell for one league game, before releasing him on a free transfer at the end of the 1955–56 season. Ayr United manager

Neil McBain Neil McBain (15 November 1895 – 13 May 1974) was a Scottish professional football player and coach. He remains the oldest player to appear in an English Football League match aged 51 years. Playing career Club McBain, a wing half, began ...

signed Bell, fielding him 15 times in the league. When McBain rejoined

in August 1956, he signed several former Ayr players, including Bell.Jones p. 268 Bell became a regular first team player at Watford, and along with

Cliff Holton Clifford Charles Holton (29 April 1929 – 31 May 1996) was an English footballer. Born in Oxford, Holton played as a full back for non-league Oxford City as a youth, before joining Arsenal in October 1947 at the age of 18. He spent three sea ...

helped Watford gain promotion to the Third Division in 1959–60, for the first time in their history. Other teammates of Bell during this period included Sammy Chung, Freddie Bunce and Dennis Uphill. Watford achieved a 4th-placed league finish in 1961, and 3rd position in 1964. The arrival of

player-manager A player–coach (also playing coach, captain–coach, or player–manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. Player–coaches may be head coaches or assistant coaches, and they may make chang ...

Ken Furphy Kenneth Furphy (28 May 1931 – 17 January 2015) was an English football player and manager. Despite being on the books at Everton between 1950 and 1951, Furphy was a lower league player with Runcorn (1951–53) Darlington (1953–62) and the ...

in 1964 signalled the end of Bell's Watford career; Furphy was also a full back, and selected himself in preference to Bell. After spending most of the 1964–65 season in Watford's reserves, Bell joined non-league

Folkestone Folkestone ( ) is a coastal town on the English Channel, in Kent, south-east England. The town lies on the southern edge of the North Downs at a valley between two cliffs. It was an important harbour, shipping port, and fashionable coastal res ...

on a free transfer in July 1965, later playing for

Wealdstone Wealdstone () is a district located in the centre of the London Borough of Harrow, England. It is located just north of Harrow, London, Harrow town centre and is south of Harrow Weald, west of Belmont, Harrow, Belmont and Kenton, London, Kenton, ...

Later life

Following his retirement from professional football, Bell worked for aircraft engine manufacturer

Rolls-Royce Rolls-Royce (always hyphenated) may refer to: * Rolls-Royce Limited, a British manufacturer of cars and later aero engines, founded in 1906, now defunct Automobiles * Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, the current car manufacturing company incorporated in ...

. He played for the company's football team, and managed them from 1979 until 1981. He later coached several English amateur sides, including Leverstock Green and Mill End, and also managed in

Sunday league football Sunday league football is a term used in Britain, Ireland and Australia to describe the amateur association football competitions which take place on Sunday rather than the more usual Saturday. The term ''pub league'' may also be used, owing to ...

in the 1990s. He died in 2007.

References

;General * * ;Specific {{DEFAULTSORT:Bell, Bobby 1934 births 2007 deaths Footballers from Ayr Scottish men's footballers Scottish Football League players English Football League players Falkirk F.C. players Ayr United F.C. players Watford F.C. players Folkestone F.C. players Wealdstone F.C. players Men's association football fullbacks 20th-century Scottish sportsmen