Peter Stanley Sampson (9 July 1927 – 16 May 2009) was a professional footballer, who spent his entire

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 ...

career with

Bristol Rovers Bristol Rovers FC is a men's professional football club in Bristol. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club is affiliated to Bristol Rovers W.F.C., whose team play in the FA Women's National Leag ...

, and who also went on to play for

Trowbridge Town Trowbridge Town Football Club is a football club based in Trowbridge, Wiltshire, England. They compete at Step 7 in the and play at Woodmarsh, on the southern edge of the town. History A Trowbridge Town team was originally formed in 1880 and ...

after retiring from the professional game. Sampson was born in

Great Wakering Great Wakering is a village in the Rochford District in Essex, England. It is approximately four miles east of Southend. Great Wakering consists mainly of two roads: the High Street, which runs from the junction of Star Lane, and New Road, whic ...

, in

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

, and attended Great Wakering School, for whom he once scored 72 goals in a single season. He initially trained as a butcher, before being called up to the army and stationed in

West Africa West Africa, also known as Western Africa, is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations geoscheme for Africa#Western Africa, United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Gha ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. He bought himself out of the army for £65, and returned to England to sign as an amateur for Bristol Rovers. He turned professional with the club in 1948, and had a thirteen-year-long career with them, making 340 league appearances and scoring four goals during that spell. He moved to Trowbridge Town in 1961, where he stayed for two years before taking over as assistant manager of his former youth club, Oldland. Away from football, Sampson had run a poultry business with his Bristol Rovers teammate Vic Lambden while playing in Bristol, and after his retirement from the sport he worked as a gardener and a milkman in his adopted home town of

Cadbury Heath Cadbury Heath is a residential suburb in South Gloucestershire, England. It is in Oldland parish in the eastern fringe of the Bristol Built-up Area, east of Bristol city centre, and borders the neighbourhoods of Longwell Green, Oldland Com ...

. Towards the end of his life he was diagnosed with

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 ...

, and spent his last few years living at a nursing home in

Congresbury Congresbury is a village and civil parish on the northwestern slopes of the Mendip Hills in North Somerset, England, which in 2011 had a population of 3,497. It lies on the A370 between Junction 21 of the M5 and Bristol Airport, south of Br ...

near Bristol. He died on 16 May 2009, aged 81.Peter Sampson obituary
''lastingtribute.co.uk'' He was the cousin of former Chelsea player Les Stubbs.

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sampson, Peter 1927 births 2009 deaths British Army soldiers Military personnel from Essex Deaths from Alzheimer's disease in England People from Rochford District English men's footballers Men's association football midfielders English Football League players Bristol Rovers F.C. players Trowbridge Town F.C. players British Army personnel of World War II Footballers from Essex 20th-century English sportsmen