Eric Prince (11 December 1924 – 2003) 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 ...

who played in the

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 ...

for Port Vale in the mid-1940s.

Career

Prince played for Ipstones, the local village club, before joining Port Vale in September 1944. He scored on his debut: a 2–1 defeat by

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club (), commonly known as West Brom or The Albion, is a professional association football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the Englis ...

The Hawthorns The Hawthorns is an All-seater stadium, all-seater association football, football stadium in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England, with a capacity of 26,688. It has been the home of EFL Championship, Championship club West Bromwich Albion F.C. ...

in a Football League North match on 9 September. He was a regular for the "Valiants" during the war years, but also guested for

Crewe Alexandra Crewe Alexandra Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Crewe, Cheshire, England. Its first team competes in League Two, the fourth level of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Railwaymen' ...

in March 1945. He scored twice in 18 games during the 1946–47 season, scoring against

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 ...

and Brighton & Hove Albion at the

Old Recreation Ground The Old Recreation Ground was a football stadium located in Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent, England, and home to Port Vale F.C. from 1913 to 1950. It was the sixth ground the club used. Structure and facilities The stadium was in rather bad conditi ...

in late December. He featured in just three Third Division South matches in 1947–48 before he was released by

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

Gordon Hodgson in February 1948. He moved on to Macclesfield Town and later turned out for Simplex Creda.

Career statistics

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Prince, Eric People from Ipstones Footballers from Staffordshire English men's footballers Men's association football forwards Port Vale F.C. players Macclesfield Town F.C. players English Football League players 1924 births 2003 deaths 20th-century English sportsmen