Michael Raymond Frederick Deakin (25 October 1933 – 8 August 2017) 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

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 ...

. He made 204 appearances 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

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition buildin ...

Northampton Town Northampton Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Northampton, England. The team competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 1897, the c ...

and

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 ...

scoring 92 goals. He was the older brother of Alan Deakin who also played in the Football League; most notably for

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club (commonly referred to as simply Villa) is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club, founded in 1874, compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The team have p ...

Playing career

Deakin began his playing career as an amateur with Woverhampton Wanderers in 1951, before moving to Bromsgrove Rovers from where he became the first signing for

manager Cyril Spiers.

Crystal Palace

Deakin signed for

, then playing in the old Third Division South, on 12 November 1954. He made his debut the next day in an away 0–1 defeat to Brighton and Hove Albion and went on to make 19

appearances that season, scoring four times. Over the next two seasons, Deakin appeared a total of 75 times in the League, scoring 24 goals. In 1957–8 and 1958–9, Deakin made 12 appearances (four goals) and 34 appearances (23 goals) respectively. After just three more appearances at the start of the next season (one goal), Deakin moved on, in October 1959, to

, in exchange for

Alan Woan Alan Woan (8 February 1931 – 13 February 2021) was an English professional footballer who played as an inside forward. He made a total of 289 Football League appearances for Norwich City, Northampton Town, Crystal Palace and Aldershot scoring ...

Later career

Over the next two seasons, Deakin played 44 times for

scoring 31 goals, helping the club to promotion from

Division Four 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 L ...

in 1960–61. However, at the end of that season he transferred to

, where he made 17

League League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football * ''League of Legends'', a 2009 multiplayer online battle a ...

appearances (5 goals) and in 1962 moved into

non-league football Non-League football describes association football, football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is ...

with Nuneaton Town; at that time known as Nuneaton Borough. Deakin died in 2017 aged 83.

References

External links

*
Mike Deakin at holmesdale.net
1933 births 2017 deaths English men's footballers Bromsgrove Rovers F.C. players Crystal Palace F.C. players Northampton Town F.C. players Aldershot F.C. players Nuneaton Town F.C. players English Football League players Men's association football forwards Footballers from Birmingham, West Midlands 20th-century English sportsmen {{England-footy-forward-1930s-stub