David John Shipperley (12 April 1952 – 21 January 2017) 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 ...

. His clubs included

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, south-east London, which compete in . Their home ground is The Valley, where the club have played since 1919. They have also played at The Mount in ...

Plymouth Argyle Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. As of the 2021–22 season, the team are competing in League One, the third tier of English football. They have played at Home Park ...

, and Gillingham, where he made over 140

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 ...

appearances. At Gillingham he was named Player of the Year in consecutive seasons, for 1975–76 and 1976–77. After his professional career he joined the Metropolitan Police and later worked as a postman in Hayes, West London, where he also managed

non-league Non-League football describes association football, football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is s ...

team Brook House. He died in January 2017. His son

Neil Neil is a masculine name of Gaelic and Irish origin. The name is an anglicisation of the Irish ''Niall'' which is of disputed derivation. The Irish name may be derived from words meaning "cloud", "passionate", "victory", "honour" or "champion".. A ...

also became a professional footballer.

References

1952 births 2017 deaths English footballers Gillingham F.C. players Plymouth Argyle F.C. players Charlton Athletic F.C. players Footballers from Uxbridge Reading F.C. players Association football central defenders {{england-footy-defender-1950s-stub