Derek Reeves (27 August 1934 – 22 May 1995) was an English

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 ...

, born in

Poole Poole () is a coastal town and seaport on the south coast of England in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole unitary authority area in Dorset, England. The town is east of Dorchester, Dorset, Dorchester and adjoins Bournemouth to the east ...

Dorset Dorset ( ; Archaism, archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north and the north-east, Hampshire to the east, t ...

, who played as a

centre forward In the sport of association football, a forward (attacker or striker) is an outfield position which primarily plays further up the pitch than midfielders and defenders. As with any attacking player, the role of the forward relies heavily on be ...

for

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 Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic 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 ...

Football career

Derek Reeves joined Southampton FC in December 1954 having been demobbed from National Service. He scored on his debut against his hometown club, Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic. Reeves soon became the scourge of Third Division services. A quick, bustling player with explosive finishing he was able to capitalise on any half-chances inside the penalty area and his lack of height did not interfere with his heading capabilities. He was the first of a succession of Saints forwards to benefit from the services of those wing wonders, Paine and

Sydenham Sydenham may refer to: Places Australia * Sydenham, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney ** Sydenham railway station, Sydney * Sydenham, Victoria, a suburb of Melbourne ** Sydenham railway line, the name of the Sunbury railway line, Melbourne un ...

. Reeves finished as Saints' top scorer for four consecutive seasons, culminating in 1959-60 when his 39 League goals created not only a Saints' but Division Three record which remains to this day. There are a couple of standout matches that highlighted Reeves' career. In January 1960, Saints took on top-flight Manchester City in the FA Cup third round and came away with an incredible 5–1 win – this regarded as Saints finest hour in the competition until 1976! Over 2,000 Saints fans travelled to Maine Road and Reeves, whose four goals underpinned the incredible scoreline dedicated his feat to those fans. He said, "I was determined to run myself into the ground just to thank them for their wonderful support." In December of that year, Saints drew Leeds in the League Cup at The Dell. Due to two lengthy floodlight failures the match lasted an incredible 2 hours and 40 minutes. Injuries meant that the match became effectively nine against ten (Huxford in goal and no subs in those days). Saints led the match 4–0 with all four scored by Reeves. In the second half, Leeds threw everything at the home defence and with 10 minutes remaining drew level. But with virtually the last kick of the game, Reeves slotted the winner and for the fifth time in the game, Paine provided the assist! Finding Second Division defences less generous; he struggled to maintain his prodigious scoring and in 1962 he moved to Bournemouth for a fee of £8,000. Surprisingly, he only managed eight goals in 35 games before moving on to non-league Worcester. He was the cousin of former Norwich City and Manchester City striker

Kevin Reeves Kevin Philip Reeves (born 20 October 1957) is an English football coach and scout, and former professional player who played as a forward, scoring 103 goals from 333 appearances in the Football League playing for AFC Bournemouth, Norwich City, ...

. Having moved back to his home town, Reeves died at the age of just 60 in 1995.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Reeves, Derek 1934 births 1995 deaths Footballers from Poole English men's footballers Men's association football forwards Southampton F.C. players AFC Bournemouth players Worcester City F.C. players English Football League players Bournemouth Gasworks Athletic F.C. players 20th-century English sportsmen