Richard George Ebdon (3 May 1913 – 27 April 1987) was an English professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

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) ** Smal ...

. He was born and died in

Ottery St Mary Ottery St Mary, known as "Ottery", is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the East Devon district of Devon, England, on the River Otter, Devon, River Otter, about east of Exeter on the B3174. At the 2001 census, the parish, w ...

Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...

. Dick "Digger" Ebdon joined

Exeter City Exeter City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Exeter, Devon, England. The team play in , the third level of the English football league system. Known as "the Grecians", the origin of their nickname is subject to ...

from local side

in December 1935 and went on to score 52 goals in 139 league games for the Grecians in a career interrupted by war. In July 1948 he moved to

Torquay United Torquay United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Torquay, Devon, England. The team currently compete in the National League South, the sixth level of the English football league system. They have played their ho ...

and scored on his debut in a 3–1 win at home to

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 ...

. However, with competition from Jack Conley and Ron Shaw played only four further games before leaving league football. Ebdon died in April 1987 aged 73.

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References

1913 births 1987 deaths Sportspeople from Ottery St Mary English men's footballers Men's association football inside forwards Ottery St Mary A.F.C. players Exeter City F.C. players Torquay United F.C. players English Football League players Footballers from Devon 20th-century English sportsmen {{England-footy-forward-1910s-stub