Brian Heward (17 July 1935 – 21 April 2012) 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 ...

who made 234 appearances 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, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

playing for

Scunthorpe United Scunthorpe United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, England. The side currently competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The tea ...

and Lincoln City. He played as a

centre half In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either ...

Life and career

Heward was born in

Lincoln, Lincolnshire Lincoln () is a cathedral city, a non-metropolitan district, and the county town of Lincolnshire, England. In the 2021 Census, the Lincoln district had a population of 103,813. The 2011 census gave the Lincoln Urban Area, urban area of Lincoln, ...

, and began his football career as a junior with Second Division club

. He made his first-team debut in March 1954, and played more frequently after established centre-half

Dick White Sir Dick Goldsmith White, (20 December 1906 – 21 February 1993) was a British intelligence officer. He was Director General (DG) of MI5 from 1953 to 1956, and Head of the Secret Intelligence Service ( MI6) from 1956 to 1968. Early life Whi ...

joined

Liverpool Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...

. He moved on to Lincoln City, newly relegated to the Third Division, for "a small fee" in the 1961 close season. Over the next six season, Heward made 114 appearances in all competitions, scoring twice. After his retirement as a player, Heward became chairman of Lincoln City's fundraising body, the Red Imps Association. He was active in the

Federation of Small Businesses The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) is a UK business organisation representing small and medium-sized businesses. It was formed in 1974 as the National Federation of Self Employed (NFSE). The current name for the organisation was adopted in ...

, chairing the local branch for many years, and represented the

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-west, Leicestershir ...

region on the federation's national governing body, becoming the longest serving national councillor. Heward was married with a family. He died in

South Hykeham South Hykeham is a village and civil parish in the North Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 census was 835. It is situated approximately south-west from the city and county town of Linc ...

, Lincolnshire, in April 2012 at the age of 76.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Heward, Brian 1935 births 2012 deaths Sportspeople from Lincoln, England English footballers Association football defenders Scunthorpe United F.C. players Lincoln City F.C. players English Football League players