Duncan Welbourne (28 July 1940 – 14 January 2019) 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 ...

player, coach and manager.

Early life

Born in

Scunthorpe Scunthorpe () is an industrial town in Lincolnshire, England, and the county's third most populous settlement after Lincoln, England, Lincoln and Grimsby, with a population of 81,286 in 2021. It is the administrative centre and largest settleme ...

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (), abbreviated ''Lincs'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands and Yorkshire and the Humber regions of England. It is bordered by the East Riding of Yorkshire across the Humber estuary to th ...

, he began his career as an amateur at

Scunthorpe United Scunthorpe United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Scunthorpe, North Lincolnshire, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The club was formed in ...

. He started his professional career at

Grimsby Grimsby or Great Grimsby is a port town in Lincolnshire, England with a population of 86,138 (as of 2021). It is located near the mouth on the south bank of the Humber that flows to the North Sea. Grimsby adjoins the town of Cleethorpes dir ...

, as a

wing half In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

. In November 1963 he transferred to

Watford Watford () is a town and non-metropolitan district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of Central London, on the banks of the River Colne, Hertfordshire, River Colne. Initially a smal ...

, for a fee of £1,300. At Watford he converted to a full back, when the club started playing in a 4–4–2 formation. Welbourne set what was then a Watford record of 457 competitive appearances, breaking the 35-year-old record previously held by Tommy Barnett. His 280 consecutive

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

games remains a record. After finishing third in the club's inaugural Player of the Season award in 1972–73, Welbourne left Watford on a free transfer at the end of the 1973–74 season. He joined

Southport Southport is a seaside resort, seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. It lies on the West Lancashire Coastal Plain, West Lancashire coastal plain and the east coast of the Irish Sea, approximately north of ...

, where he finished his playing career. He also took on a coaching role, and managed the team between September 1975 and January 1976. Welbourne died on the morning of 14 January 2019, as confirmed by Watford He won a Division Three championship medal; a fourth-place FA Cup medal but his most treasured possession was a testimonial present of a gold disc awarded for the song ''

Goodbye Yellow Brick Road ''Goodbye Yellow Brick Road'' is the seventh studio album by English singer, pianist, and composer Elton John. A double album, it was released on 5 October 1973, by DJM Records. Recorded at the Château d'Hérouville in France, the album became ...

'', presented by

Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, songwriter and pianist. His music and showmanship have had a significant, lasting impact on the music industry, and his songwriting partnership with l ...

, then director, with the inscription: "To Duncan: something to keep you close to Watfordand myself."

References

1940 births 2019 deaths Scunthorpe United F.C. players Grimsby Town F.C. players Watford F.C. players Southport F.C. players Southport F.C. managers English Football League players Footballers from Scunthorpe Men's association football fullbacks English men's footballers English football managers 20th-century English sportsmen {{England-footy-manager-stub