Christopher Garland (born 24 April 1949) is an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national id ...

former

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 played in all four divisions of

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 ...

. He was

capped In sport, a cap is a player's appearance in a game at international level. The term dates from the practice in the United Kingdom of awarding a cap to every player in an international match of rugby football and association football. In the ea ...

once by England at under-23 level. 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) ** Sm ...

, he began his professional career with local club

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England, which compete in the , the second tier of English football. They have played their home games at Ashton Gate since moving from St John's Lane in 1904. The ...

in April 1966. He was sold to

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament const ...

for £100,000 in 1971, and went on to play on the losing side of the

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, me ...

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

final. He joined

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the Nation ...

in 1974, before returning to Bristol City in November 1976. The club underwent a dramatic decline from the First Division to the

Fourth Division Fourth or the fourth may refer to: * the ordinal form of the number 4 * ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971 * Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision * Fourth (music), a musical interval * ''The Fourth'' (1972 film), a Sovie ...

and he had to accept a termination of his contract for half the amount due in 1982, though he went on to remain at the club for another season. He later played for Gloucester City, coached at Yeovil Town and managed

Minehead Minehead is a coastal town and civil parish in Somerset, England. It lies on the south bank of the Bristol Channel, north-west of the county town of Taunton, from the boundary with the county of Devon and in proximity of the Exmoor National P ...

Playing career

Bristol City

Garland was born on 24 April 1949 in

Ashton Gate, Bristol Ashton Gate is a suburb of Bristol, United Kingdom, in the Southville ward of Bristol City Council. A toll house at the western end of North Street still survives and indicates the origin of the area's name as a gate on the road to Ashton (now k ...

, England, the second son of Grace and George William Henry, a factory worker and lorry driver respectively. He attended a trial for England Schoolboys, and was signed up as an apprentice at

in 1964. However, he broke his leg in a park kick-around with friends, and was severely reprimanded by manager Fred Ford. He recovered and went on to sign professional terms with the club five days after his 17th birthday. He made his

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 ...

debut at Ashton Gate Stadium on 3 December 1966, in a 2–0 victory over

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional football club in Preston, Lancashire, England, who currently play in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league syst ...

. This was his only appearance of the 1966–67 season, and the "Robins" went on to finish in 15th place. Ford was sacked early in the 1967–68 campaign, and caretaker-manager Les Bardsley made wholesale changes to the first eleven, including a recall for Garland. He played all three of Bardsley's games in charge, and scored in the 3–3 draw with

Hull City Hull City Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, that compete in the . They have played home games at the MKM Stadium since moving from Boothferry Park in 2002. The club's ...

. He started in new manager

Alan Dicks Alan Dicks (born 29 August 1934) is an English retired footballer and football manager. He managed Bristol City for thirteen years and managed clubs in four countries on three continents. Born in London, he signed for Chelsea at the age of ...

's second game in charge, and remained a first team regular throughout the rest of the season, scoring nine goals in 32 league and cup games. In the

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 competit ...

the club beat

Bristol derby The Bristol derby is the name given to football matches played between Bristol City and Bristol Rovers (a "local derby"). The fans of each club both consider the other to be their main rivals, leading to a heated atmosphere at these matches. Th ...

rivals

Bristol Rovers Bristol Rovers Football Club are a professional football club in Bristol, England. They compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They play home matches at the Memorial Stadium in Horfield, they have been ...

and

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

, before losing 2–0 to

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road ...

in a bad tempered game that saw

Gary Sprake Gareth Sprake (3 April 1945 – 18 October 2016) was a Welsh professional Association football, footballer. A Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper, he played for Leeds United F.C., Leeds United and Birmingham City F.C., Birmingham City ...

sent off for punching Garland in the jaw. He formed an effective strike partnership with big target man

John Galley John Edward Galley (born 7 May 1944) is an English former professional footballer who scored 149 goals from 409 games in the Football League playing as a centre forward for Wolverhampton Wanderers, Rotherham United, Bristol City, Nottingham F ...

in the 1968–69 and 1969–70 seasons, and was linked with moves away to bigger clubs. On 8 April 1970, Garland won his only international

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. Caps typically have a visor, or no brim at all. They are popular in casual and informal se ...

, for England under-23 in a 4–1 win over

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Mac ...

Home Park Home Park is a football stadium in Plymouth, England. The ground has been the home of Football League One club Plymouth Argyle since 1901.Paul Edwards. City finished in 19th place in the 1970–71 season, four points above the relegation zone.

Chelsea

Garland was sold to

Dave Sexton David James Sexton (6 April 1930 – 25 November 2012) was an English football manager and player. He was notable for managing Chelsea to their first ever major European trophy. Playing career Son of former professional boxer Archie Sex ...

for £100,000 in September 1971. He was signed as a squad player and found first team opportunities limited, especially after spending a month out injured following a bad tackle from

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...

's Barry Lyon. He scored his first goal for the club in his fifth appearance, in a

semi-final win over

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. The team has playe ...

; he also scored in the second leg. He went on to sing with the rest of the team in '' Blue Is the Colour'', a song to coincide with

the final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

, which went on to reach number five in the charts. He played in the final at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...

, in which Chelsea lost 2–1 to

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, which competes in the . Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, it changed its name to Stoke in 1878 and then to Stoke City in 1925 after Sto ...

. The "Pensioners" finished the 1971–72 campaign seventh in the First Division. He finished as the club's joint top-scorer (with

Peter Osgood Peter Leslie Osgood (20 February 1947 – 1 March 2006) was an English footballer who was active during the 1960s and 1970s. He is best remembered for representing Chelsea and Southampton at club level, and was also capped four times by Englan ...

) in the 1972–73 season with 11 goals, but Chelsea dropped to 12th in the league. The 1973–74 campaign was worse for the club, as star players like Osgood,

Alan Hudson Alan Anthony Hudson (born 21 June 1951) is an English former footballer who played for Arsenal, Chelsea, Stoke City and the Seattle Sounders as well as the England national football team. Club career Chelsea Born and brought up near the King' ...

and David Webb and management fell out, and they dropped to 17th place in the league. Sexton was sacked in October 1974, and his replacement

Ron Suart Ron is a shortening of the name Ronald. Ron or RON may also refer to: Arts and media * Big Ron (''EastEnders''), a TV character * Ron (''King of Fighters''), a video game character *Ron Douglas, the protagonist in ''Lucky Stiff'' played by Joe A ...

only lasted until April. New boss

Eddie McCreadie Edward Graham McCreadie (born 15 April 1940) is a Scottish former footballer who played at left-back, mainly for Chelsea. He later became a football manager. Career McCreadie started his footballing career with amateur Scottish side Drumchapel ...

allowed Garland to leave the club after receiving bids from Leicester City and Everton that matched the fee Chelsea had paid for Garland. In total he scored 31 goals in 114 league and cup appearances for Chelsea. Chelsea declined in the immediate aftermath of his departure, and suffered relegation at the end of the 1974–75 season.

Leicester City

Garland was sold to

for £100,000 in 1974; he agreed to join the club without speaking to Everton as he was convinced by manager

Jimmy Bloomfield James Henry Bloomfield (15 February 1934 – 3 April 1983) was an English football player and manager. He made nearly 500 appearances in the Football League, including more than 300 in the First Division with Arsenal, Birmingham City and West H ...

that Leicester were the right club for him. He scored eight goals in ten matches, including a hat-trick in a 3–2 win over

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

Filbert Street Filbert Street was a football stadium in Leicester, England, which served as the home of Leicester City F.C. from 1891 until 2002. Although officially titled the City Business Stadium in the early 1990s, it remained known almost exclusively b ...

on 22 March, to help the "Foxes" to finish three points above the First Division relegation zone at the end of the 1974–75 season. He was one of three regular rotated forwards in the 1975–76 campaign, alongside

Frank Worthington Frank Stewart Worthington (23 November 1948 – 22 March 2021) was an English footballer who played as a forward. Worthington was born into a footballing family in Shelf, near Halifax, West Riding of Yorkshire. Both of his parents had played ...

and Bob Lee, and City went on to finish seventh; he claimed another hat-trick in a 3–0

victory over

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games a ...

on 3 January. He scored three goals at the start of the 1976–77 season, but broke

Jeff Blockley Jeffrey Paul Blockley (born 12 September 1949) is an English former footballer who played as a defender. He made over 300 Football League appearances and was capped by the England national football team. Blockley was born in Leicester but be ...

's cheekbone after punching him during training for what Garland believed was Blockley's rough treatment of the club's apprentices. Garland placed four transfer requests, and was eventually sold back to his hometown club.

Return to Bristol City

Garland was sold to his former club

for a £110,000 fee in November 1976; during his absence the club had reached the First Division while still under the stewardship of

. Dicks planned to use Garland in a strike partnership with target man Paul Cheesley, but a severe injury to Cheesley meant that Garland had to play as the target man centre-forward despite his small stature. He initially struggled in the role, but Dicks had no other suitable replacements other than

Tom Ritchie Thomas Gibb Ritchie (born 2 January 1952) is a Scottish former footballer who made over 440 appearances in the Football League scoring 110 league goals playing as a striker, most notably for Bristol City. Career Born in Edinburgh, Tom Ritchie ...

, who also was not a natural centre-forward. Despite a tough end-of-season schedule City managed to pick up enough to points to narrowly avoid relegation in 1976–77, with Garland scoring winning goals against

and

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 tore his cruciate ligaments early in the 1977–78 season and missed not only the rest of the campaign but also spent much of the 1978–79 and 1979–80 seasons struggling with the same injury. Dicks departed following relegation in 1979–80, and under

Bob Houghton Robert Douglas Houghton (born 30 October 1947) is an English football manager and former player. His career has spanned over 30 years and 10 countries. He is most famous for taking Swedish club Malmö FF to the 1979 European Cup Final, where the ...

's stewardship they dropped immediately out of the

in the 1980–81 campaign, with Garland again having limited involvement due to his knee and ligament injuries. Houghton sent him on loan to Västerås SK of the Swedish second Division to help him gain fitness. There he scored the winning goal against local rivals

IFK Västerås IFK Västerås is a Swedish football club located in Västerås. Background Idrottsföreningen Kamraterna Västerås were formed in 1898 and at their best played in series games in Sweden for several seasons in Sweden's next highest division; ...

, and helped the club to a third-place finish in

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major off ...

. He rarely featured under Houghton, and when new manager

Roy Hodgson Roy Hodgson (born 9 August 1947) is a former English football manager and player. He managed 22 different teams in eight countries, beginning in Sweden with Halmstads BK in the 1976 season. He later guided the Switzerland national team to ...

arrived he informed Garland and seven teammates (

Julian Marshall Julian Marshall (24 June 1836 – 21 November 1903) was an English music and print collector, tennis player and writer. Life Marshall was born in Headingley, Yorkshire to a flax-spinning family. Faflak & Wright, p. 51 His father, John Marshal ...

, Jimmy Mann,

Geoff Merrick Geoff Merrick (born 29 April 1951) is an English former professional footballer who played as a central defender, making over 300 career appearances. Career Born in Bristol, Merrick played for Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a ...

Peter Aitken Peter Gerald Aitken (born 30 June 1954) is a Welsh former footballer who played nearly 300 games in the Football League. Career Aitken began his career as an apprentice with Bristol Rovers, making his debut in the 1972–73 season. He joine ...

, David Rodgers,

Trevor Tainton Trevor Keith Tainton (born 8 June 1948) is a former footballer who played as a midfielder in the Football League between the 1960s and 1980s for Bristol City. He was born in Bristol and first appeared in the league for Bristol City in the 19 ...

and Gerry Sweeney), known as the "Ashton Gate Eight", that would have to take

voluntary redundancy Voluntary redundancy (VR) is a financial incentive offered by an organisation to encourage employees to voluntarily resign, typically in downsizing or restructuring situations. The purpose is to avoid compulsory redundancies or layoffs. Reasons A ...

as part of a last-ditch plan to save the club, which was on the verge of folding; Garland agreed and lost £3,750. He and Merrick then spent six months playing in

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

for Caroline Hill. City suffered a third successive relegation in 1981–82 after dropping out of the Third Division. After relegation to the

, Garland would go on to be re-employed by Bristol City manager Terry Cooper for the 1982–83 season, playing as a non-contract player until February 1983, when he retired.

Later life

After retiring, he spent two years selling fruit and vegetables

door-to-door Door-to-door is a canvassing technique that is generally used for sales, marketing, advertising, evangelism or campaigning, in which the person or persons walk from the door of one house to the door of another, trying to sell or advertise a ...

. He also featured in the Southern League for Gloucester City, before returning to professional football as a coach at Yeovil Town. During his time there he got his friend

Ian Botham Ian Terence Botham, Baron Botham, (born 24 November 1955) is an English cricket commentator, member of the House of Lords, a former cricketer who has been chairman of Durham County Cricket Club since 2017 and charity fundraiser. Hailed as on ...

to play for the club and Yeovil won admission back into the National League then known as the Conference. However his business was failing and he developed gambling and drinking problems and was contemplating suicide at one stage. He entered the

wine Wine is an alcoholic drink typically made from fermented grapes. Yeast consumes the sugar in the grapes and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Different varieties of grapes and strains of yeasts are ...

distribution business but again his business failed and he was declared

bankrupt Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debto ...

. He went on to work as a

bookmaker A bookmaker, bookie, or turf accountant is an organization or a person that accepts and pays off bets on sporting and other events at agreed-upon odds. History The first bookmaker, Ogden, stood at Newmarket in 1795. Range of events Book ...

's clerk, which only worsened his gambling addiction. He later spent time as manager of Western League side

whilst working as an

insurance Insurance is a means of protection from financial loss in which, in exchange for a fee, a party agrees to compensate another party in the event of a certain loss, damage, or injury. It is a form of risk management, primarily used to hedge ...

salesman. He was diagnosed with

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a long-term degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that mainly affects the motor system. The symptoms usually emerge slowly, and as the disease worsens, non-motor symptoms becom ...

in 1988. He married Patricia Cooper in June 1970. They had two sons, Adam and Ryan, and one daughter,

Jessica Jessica may refer to: Given name * Jessica (given name), includes a list of people and fictional characters with this name * Jessica Folcker, a Swedish singer known by the mononym Jessica * Jessica Jung, a Korean-American singer known by the m ...

. His daughter is a former England netball international and in 2019 was appointed head coach of the

England national netball team The England national women's netball team, also known as the ''Vitality Roses'', represent England in international netball competition. England are coached by Jess Thirlby, and are currently captained by Natalie Metcalf. As of 1 July 2020, th ...

. The couple split after 25 years of marriage. After leaving Patricia he spent time sleeping rough, before he was housed by a property developer who also provided him with casual work. A testimonial with

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

raised £81,000 for Garland, which he split between himself and his ex-wife. He married again, to Ruth, in 2004. However his gambling problems remained, and he was again declared bankrupt a few years later. However, with funding from the

Professional Footballers' Association The Professional Footballers' Association (PFA) is the trade union for professional association footballers in England and Wales. Founded in 1907, it is the world's oldest professional sport trade union, and has over 5,000 members. The aims of ...

(PFA) he was able to undergo pioneering surgery to help relieve his Parkinson's.

Honours

;with Chelsea *

Football League Cup The EFL Cup (referred to historically, and colloquially, as the League Cup), currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual knockout competition and major trophy in men's domestic football in England. Organised by th ...

runner-up:

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Garland, Chris 1949 births Living people Footballers from Bristol English footballers England under-23 international footballers Association football forwards Bristol City F.C. players Chelsea F.C. players Leicester City F.C. players English expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Sweden Expatriate footballers in Hong Kong Gloucester City A.F.C. players English Football League players Southern Football League players Yeovil Town F.C. non-playing staff English football managers People with Parkinson's disease