Keith Richard Bebbington (born 4 August 1943) is an English former

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 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

Oldham Athletic Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional association football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England. As of the 2025–26 EFL League Two, 2025–26 season, the team competes in EFL League Two, the fourth level of the Eng ...

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England, and the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale. In the United Kingdom 2021 Census, 2021 Census, the town had a population of 111,261, compared to 223,773 for the wid ...

and

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, the cl ...

Career

Bebbington was a quick left winger who came through the youth team at

. He made his debut against

Luton Town Luton Town Football Club is a professional association football, football club from Luton, Bedfordshire, England. The club currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. Nicknamed "The Hatters", L ...

in September 1962. He had a good debut season with Stoke as in 1962–63 they won the Second Division title. In 1963–64 Stoke made it to the

1964 Football League Cup Final The 1964 Football League Cup Final, the fourth to be staged since the competition's inception, was contested between Stoke City and Leicester City, both of the First Division, over two legs. Leicester City won 4–3 on aggregate. Match rev ...

against

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

, Bebbington scoring the first goal of a two legged tie becoming Stoke's first cup final goalscorer, Stoke however lost 4–3 on aggregate. In the 1965–66 season the substitute was introduced and Bebbington was Stoke's first sub replacing

Dennis Viollet Dennis Sydney Viollet (20 September 1933 – 6 March 1999) was an English footballer who played for Manchester United and Stoke City as well as the England national team. He was famous as one of the Busby Babes and survived the Munich air disa ...

on the opening day away at

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

. He spent two more seasons at the

Victoria Ground The Victoria Ground was the home ground of Stoke City from 1878 until 1997, when the club relocated to the Britannia Stadium after 119 years. At the time of its demolition it was the oldest operational ground in the Football League. Histor ...

and after making 124 appearances, scoring 22 goals he left for

. He became a key figure with the "Latics" as he made 237 appearances in the league in six years with the club. He finished his career with

Career statistics

Honours

;Stoke City *

Football League Second Division The Football League Second Division was the second level division in the English football league system between 1892 and 1992. Following the foundation of the FA Premier League, the Football League divisions were renumbered and the third tier ...

champions: 1962–63 *

Football League Cup The English Football League Cup, often referred to as the League Cup and currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout competition in men's domestic football in England. Orga ...

runners-up:

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 – In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patria ...

;Oldham Athletic *

Football League Fourth Division The Football League Fourth Division was the fourth-highest division in the English football league system from the 1958–59 season until the creation of the Premier League prior to the 1992–93 season. Following the creation of the Premier ...

3rd place (promotion): 1970–71

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bebbington, Keith 1943 births People from Malpas, Cheshire Living people Footballers from Cheshire English men's footballers Stoke City F.C. players Rochdale A.F.C. players Oldham Athletic A.F.C. players Winsford United F.C. players English Football League players Men's association football forwards