David Charles Puckett (born 29 October 1960) 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

Aldershot Aldershot ( ) is a town in the Rushmoor district, Hampshire, England. It lies on heathland in the extreme north-east corner of the county, south-west of London. The town has a population of 37,131, while the Farnborough/Aldershot built-up are ...

Bournemouth Bournemouth ( ) is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole unitary authority area, in the ceremonial county of Dorset, England. At the 2021 census, the built-up area had a population of 196,455, making it the largest ...

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

, and

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, the cl ...

Playing career

Puckett began his career with

during the 1970s and played nearly 100 games for them in the

First Division 1st Division or First Division may refer to: Military Airborne divisions *1st Parachute Division (Germany) *1st Airborne Division (United Kingdom) * 1st Airmobile Division (Ukraine) * 1st Guards Airborne Division Armoured divisions *1st Armoure ...

between 1978 and 1986, scoring 14 times. However, he struggled to hold down a first team place and was transferred to Third Division side

in 1986, helping them win that division's title and promotion to the

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 ...

a year later. During his time at Bournemouth he played on loan for

and

Swansea City Swansea City Association Football Club ( ; ) is a Welsh professional football club based in Swansea, Wales. It competes in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Swansea have played their home matches at ...

. Puckett suffered a major knee injury while playing for the

Dean Court Dean Court, currently known as Vitality Stadium for sponsorship purposes, is a football stadium in Boscombe, a suburb of Bournemouth, Dorset, England, and is the home ground of AFC Bournemouth. The stadium has a capacity of 11,307. History I ...

side and was loaned to

in the 1988–89 season, scoring a hat-trick on his Third Division debut for the club, and was soon signed on a permanent basis, but was unable to save the Shots from relegation. He made a total of 113 appearances for

in the league, scoring 50 goals, before returning to Bournemouth during the 1991–92 season, a few weeks before Aldershot went out of business and left

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 ...

. The return to Bournemouth was Puckett's final contribution to senior football, as he made just four appearances for the club before hanging up his boots in professional football during 1992. He subsequently played for several non-league clubs in the south of England, including Salisbury City. In 2011 Puckett signed for

Wessex League The Wessex Football League, known as the Velocity Wessex Football League for sponsorship reasons, is an English regional men's football league in southern England. Its members are primarily from Hampshire and Dorset, but clubs from adjoining co ...

club Lymington Town and on 26 November 2011 scored to become the league's oldest ever goalscorer at the age of 51. He later broke this record while playing for

Totton & Eling Totton and Eling () is a civil parish in Hampshire, England, with a population of 28,970 people. It contains the settlements of Totton, Eling, Calmore, Hounsdown, Rushington and Testwood. It is situated between the eastern edge of the New Fore ...

when scoring at the age of 53 in February 2014. He made fifteen league appearances for Totton & Eling, scoring one goal. On 21 May 2014 Puckett played a 4th division game in Iceland for Hvíti Riddarinn (The White Knights). Puckett was substituted in to the game in the 66th minute along with his son Bill who is one of two coaches of the team. The Knights won the game 2–0.

Coaching career

In July 2003, Puckett returned to

as coach to the Saints academy, working with seven to 12-year-olds. In 2009, he was the Assistant Academy Manager, working with 12- to 16-year-olds.

Career statistics

Source: :A. The "Other" column constitutes appearances and goals in the

Football League Trophy The English Football League Trophy, officially known as the Vertu Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is an annual English football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL League Two and U-21 teams from the Premier Le ...

Full Members Cup The Full Members' Cup was an association football cup competition held in English football from 1985 to 1992. It was also known under its sponsored names of the Simod Cup from 1987 to 1989 and the Zenith Data Systems Cup from 1989 to 1992. T ...

and Screen Sport Super Cup.

Honours

Southampton *

Football League Division 1 The Football League First Division was the top division of the Football League in England from 1888 until the end of the 1991–92 season, when its teams broke away to form the Premier League. From 1992 to 2004, the name First Division was g ...

Runners-up: 1983–84 Woking *

FA Trophy The Football Association Challenge Trophy, also known as the Isuzu FA Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is a men's football knockout cup competition run by and named after The Football Association (the FA) and competed by mainly National League ...

: 1993–94 Lymington Town *Oldest goalscorer in the

Premier Division.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Puckett, David 1960 births Footballers from Southampton English men's footballers Stoke City F.C. players Southampton F.C. players Swansea City A.F.C. players Aldershot F.C. players AFC Bournemouth players Woking F.C. players Salisbury City F.C. players Lymington Town F.C. players English Football League players Living people Totton & Eling F.C. players Men's association football forwards Southampton F.C. non-playing staff English football coaches