Peter Dennis Skipper (11 April 1958 – 23 April 2019) 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 as a

central defender In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

. Skipper originally started out as a goalkeeper before becoming a midfielder and finally a central defender. He turned professional when he signed for

Hull City Hull City Association Football Club is a professional association football club based in Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. They compete in the , the second level of the English football league system. They play their home ...

in January 1979 but often was played at left back. He then had spells at

Scunthorpe United Scunthorpe United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Scunthorpe, North Lincolnshire, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The club was formed in ...

and

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. It lies on the River Skerne, west of Middlesbrough and south of Durham. Darlington had a population of 107,800 at the 2021 Census, making it a "large town" ...

before returning to Hull in August 1982. In the 1982-83 season, he won promotion with Hull from the Fourth Division and the following year was on the losing side in the Associate Members' Cup final. He made over 300 appearances for the club, scoring 19 goals, including the winning header against

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall, in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located ...

which clinched Hull's promotion to the

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

in 1985. He moved to

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 ...

in 1988, and went to play for Walsall and

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in the North East Wales, north-east of Wales. It lies between the Cambrian Mountains, Welsh mountains and the lower River Dee, Wales, Dee Valley, near the England–Wales border, borde ...

before finishing his career at

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, they have p ...

. Skipper died of complications caused by a

stroke Stroke is a medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to a part of the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemor ...

on 23 April 2019, at the age of 61.

References

External links

Peter Skipper
at Hull City official website 1958 births 2019 deaths Footballers from Kingston upon Hull Men's association football defenders English men's footballers Hull City A.F.C. players Scunthorpe United F.C. players Darlington F.C. players Oldham Athletic A.F.C. players Walsall F.C. players Wrexham A.F.C. players Wigan Athletic F.C. players Stafford Rangers F.C. players English Football League players 20th-century English sportsmen {{England-footy-defender-1950s-stub