David Needham (born 21 May 1949) is an English former 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 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 ...

for

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football, football club in Nottingham, England, which competes in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of Football in England, English football, following promotion and relegation, promotion ...

Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional association football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England. The team currently compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English f ...

and

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is a professional association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Founde ...

, and in the

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 ...

for the Toronto Blizzard, in the 1970s and 1980s.

Playing career

Notts County

Needham started his career at

in 1966. He spent eleven years at the Magpies.

Queens Park Rangers

He was signed by

in the close season of 1977 for £90,000. He was signed to replace the recently retired Frank McLintock in the centre of QPR's defence. He only spent six months at the West London club.

Nottingham Forest

Newly promoted

signed him in December 1977 for £140,000. At the end of the 1977–78 season he had picked up a winners medal as Forest won the First Division, but was ineligible for the

Football League Cup The English Football League Cup, often referred to as the League Cup and currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout competition in men's domestic football in England. Orga ...

which they won as he had played for QPR earlier in the competition. He did win a League Cup winners medal the following season when Forest retained the trophy, and was in the team which lost the 1980 final, when a mix-up between Needham and

Peter Shilton Peter Leslie Shilton (born 18 September 1949) is an English former professional association football, footballer who played as a goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper. His 31-year career included spells at 11 clubs and he has the uni ...

led to the winning goal for Andy Gray. He was an unused substitute in both of Forest's European Cup final wins in

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

and

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning Sys ...

Toronto Blizzard

He left Forest in 1982 to play in Canada. He signed for Toronto Blizzard in the

International

Needham was capped six times for England 'B', scoring twice.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Needham, David 1949 births Living people England men's B international footballers English expatriate men's footballers English expatriate sportspeople in Canada English men's footballers Expatriate men's soccer players in Canada North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players Notts County F.C. players Queens Park Rangers F.C. players Nottingham Forest F.C. players Toronto Blizzard (1971–1984) players Kettering Town F.C. players Men's association football defenders UEFA Champions League–winning players People educated at City of Leicester Boys' Grammar School Footballers from Leicester English Football League players