Gerald Morton Young (1 October 1936 – 2 September 2020) 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 mainly as a

left 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. ...

. He spent his entire 14-year professional career at

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 ...

. He made one appearance for

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

in 1964.

Playing career

Born in Harton in

South Shields South Shields () is a coastal town in South Tyneside, Tyne and Wear, England; it is on the south bank of the mouth of the River Tyne. The town was once known in Roman Britain, Roman times as ''Arbeia'' and as ''Caer Urfa'' by the Early Middle Ag ...

, Young played schools' football in

Jarrow Jarrow ( or ) is a town in South Tyneside in the county of Tyne and Wear, England. Historically in County Durham, it is on the south bank of the River Tyne, about from the east coast. The 2011 census area classed Hebburn and the Boldons as ...

. He was on the books of

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 ...

at the age of 16, but returned to junior football after finding opportunities limited. Upon leaving school, Young played for the

Hawthorn Leslie R. & W. Hawthorn, Leslie and Company, Limited, usually referred to as Hawthorn Leslie, was a shipbuilding, shipbuilder and locomotive manufacturer. The company was founded on Tyneside in 1886 and ceased building ships in 1982. History The comp ...

shipyard team in

Hebburn Hebburn is a town in the South Tyneside borough of Tyne and Wear, England. It was formerly in County Durham until 1974 with its own urban district from 1894 until 1974. It is on the south bank of the River Tyne between Gateshead and Jarrow and ...

, then in

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 ...

. Young signed for Sheffield Wednesday in the early part of 1955 as a

centre forward In the sport of association football, a forward (attacker or striker) is an outfield position which primarily plays further up the pitch than midfielders and defenders. As with any attacking player, the role of the forward relies heavily on be ...

, however his chances of breaking into the side were restricted by the presence of players of the calibre of

Redfern Froggatt Redfern Froggatt (23 August 1924 – 26 December 2003) was an English footballer for Sheffield Wednesday and England. In total he received four England caps scoring 2 goals. Club career In 1942 'Red' was signed from Sheffield YMCA but did not ...

and

Roy Shiner Roy Albert James Shiner (15 November 1924 in Ryde, Isle of Wight – 1988) was a professional footballer who played as a forward for Ryde Sports, Cheltenham Town, Huddersfield Town, Sheffield Wednesday & Hull City Hull City Association F ...

. He made his debut on 2 March 1957 in an away defeat at

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside town in Lancashire, England. It is located on the Irish Sea coast of the Fylde peninsula, approximately north of Liverpool and west of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. It is the main settlement in the Borough of Blackpool ...

, but did not become a regular in the Wednesday side until December 1962 when

Tony Kay Anthony Herbert Kay (born 13 May 1937) is an English former footballer who became notorious after being banned from the professional game for life following the British betting scandal of 1964. Kay played for Sheffield Wednesday before beco ...

was sold to Everton and Young was switched to central defence by manager

Vic Buckingham Victor Frederick Buckingham (23 October 1915 – 26 January 1995) was an English football player and manager. He played for Second Division side Tottenham Hotspur. As manager he won the 1954 FA Cup final with West Bromwich Albion and finished ...

as a replacement. While playing as a forward in the 1961–62 season he scored a hat trick in the

Inter-Cities Fairs Cup The Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, most commonly referred to as the Fairs Cup and sometimes as the European Fairs Cup or Fairs Cities' Cup, was a European football competition played between 1955 and 1971. The Fairs Cup was the idea of FIFA vice-presid ...

against

A.S. Roma Associazione Sportiva Roma (''Rome Sport Association''; Italian pronunciation: ) is a professional football club based in Rome, Italy. Founded by a merger in 1927, Roma has participated in the top tier of Italian football for all of its exis ...

. Young was an ever-present in the following 1963–64 season when Wednesday finished sixth in Division One. His good form earned him an

call up on 18 November 1964, against

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

. He was called up again for the following match against the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

in December 1964 but had to pull out after rupturing a thigh muscle; he missed most of the rest of that season and never got the chance to play for England again. Young was part of the Sheffield Wednesday side which reached the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

final in

1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo i ...

playing in all six matches. Young's part in that final will always be remembered for the mistake he made to allow

Derek Temple Derek William Temple (born 13 November 1938) is an English former footballer who played in the Football League as a forward for Everton and Preston North End in the Football League. He was capped once for England. Temple was born in Liverpoo ...

to score the winning goal in a 3–2 victory for Everton. Young failed to control a long downfield punt, Temple dispossessed him and ran on to beat Wednesday

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

Ron Springett Ronald Deryk George Springett (22 July 1935 – 12 September 2015) was an English professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He began his career with QPR in 1953 where he made 147 appearances over two spells. He had a nine-year spell ...

. Gerry Young stayed with Wednesday until he retired at the end of the 1970–71 season he played 310 league games (345 including cup games) scoring 20 goals. He formed a central defensive partnership with Vic Mobley during the period from 1964 to 1969, his final game was on 2 January 1971 in a 1–4 FA Cup 3rd round defeat at

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...

After playing

Young joined the Sheffield Wednesday staff on retiring from playing in 1971, initially as coach of the second team, and later as chief coach. He remained in that position until October 1975 when he was sacked along with manager

Steve Burtenshaw Stephen Burtenshaw (23 November 1935 – 17 February 2022) was an English football player and manager. Burtenshaw played as a wing half for Brighton & Hove Albion. As a manager, he was at the helm of clubs Sheffield Wednesday, Everton, Queens ...

after Wednesday dropped down to the Third Division. Gerry Young then went into business with former Wednesday player

John Quinn John or Jack Quinn may refer to: Politicians and lawyers *John Quinn (advocate) (1954–2022), Attorney General of the Isle of Man *John Quinn (collector) (1870–1924), lawyer, collector of manuscripts and paintings, friend of T. S. Eliot and Ezr ...

opening a sports and trophy shop on Middlewood Road which stayed in business for many years. He later joined the staff at

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. It is the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. The town's population was 71,422 in 2021, while the wider boroug ...

. He died on 2 September 2020 at the age of 83.

Honours

Sheffield Wednesday *

runner-up: 1965–66

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Young, Gerald 1936 births Footballers from Jarrow Footballers from South Shields English men's footballers England men's international footballers Men's association football forwards Men's association football wing halves Newcastle United F.C. players Sheffield Wednesday F.C. players Sheffield Wednesday F.C. non-playing staff Barnsley F.C. non-playing staff English football coaches English Football League players 2020 deaths