Geoff Barrowcliffe (18 October 1931 – 26 September 2009) 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 played as a fullback 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 ...

for

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club in Derby, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. One of the 12 founder members of the English Football ...

, and also played for several non-league clubs. Barrowcliffe began his career at non-league Ilkeston Town, before being signed by Derby in October 1950. He spent the next 16 years at the

Baseball Ground The Baseball Ground was a stadium in Derby, England, that was first used for baseball, as the home of Derby Baseball Club from 1890 until 1898, and then for football, as the home of Derby County from 1895 until 1997. The club's reserve and yo ...

, and played 475 league games for the Rams. He also scored 37 goals for the club, most of them from the penalty spot. He left Derby at the end of the 1965–66, and joined

Boston United Boston United Football Club is a semi-professional association football club based in Boston, Lincolnshire, England. The club participates in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. The club is known as 'the ...

, where he played 41 games and scored 11 goals. He later played for Heanor Town, Moor Green Colliery, Kimberley Town and Long Eaton United and managed Kimberley Town and Radford. Barrowcliffe died in

Ilkeston Ilkeston ( ) is a town located in the Borough of Erewash in Derbyshire, England, with a population of 40,953 at the 2021 census. Its major industries, coal mining, iron working and lace making/textiles, have now all but disappeared. Part of t ...

on 26 September 2009, at age 77. He had been suffering from

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease and the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As the disease advances, symptoms can include problems wit ...

. Minute silences were observed before both Derby County's

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...

game against

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an off ...

on 3 October and a friendly between Derby and Ilkeston Town on 5 October.

References

1931 births 2009 deaths Footballers from Ilkeston English men's footballers Men's association football fullbacks English Football League players Ilkeston Town F.C. (1945) players Derby County F.C. players Boston United F.C. players Deaths from Alzheimer's disease in England Deaths from dementia in England People from Little Eaton 20th-century English sportsmen {{England-footy-defender-1930s-stub