Frederick Thomas Middleton (2 August 1930 – 8 April 2016) was an English 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 made 300 appearances 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 ...

playing for Lincoln City.

Life and career

Middleton was born in

West Hartlepool West Hartlepool was a predecessor of Hartlepool, County Durham, England. It developed in the Victorian era and took the name from its western position in the parish of what is now known as the Headland. The former town was originally formed ...

County Durham County Durham, officially simply Durham, is a ceremonial county in North East England.UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. The county borders Northumberland and Tyne an ...

, and attended the town's Technical Day School. He began his football career as a junior with

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Since th ...

, and spent several years there as a professional, but never played in

before moving on to Lincoln City in 1954. Middleton played regularly for Lincoln at

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. ...

, remaining with the club as they fell from the

Second The second (symbol: s) is a unit of time derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes, and finally to 60 seconds each (24 × 60 × 60 = 86400). The current and formal definition in the International System of U ...

to the Fourth Division. Middleton left the club in 1964, having scored 16 goals from 316 games in all competitions, a total which at the time placed him fifth in Lincoln's all-time appearances list.

References

1930 births 2016 deaths Footballers from West Hartlepool English men's footballers Men's association football wing halves Newcastle United F.C. players Lincoln City F.C. players Skegness Town A.F.C. players English Football League players 20th-century English sportsmen {{England-footy-midfielder-1930s-stub