Philip Damien Hoadley (6 January 1952 – 5 May 2024) 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 made more than 400 appearances 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 ...

playing 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 ...

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 ...

Orient The Orient is a term referring to the East in relation to Europe, traditionally comprising anything belonging to the Eastern world. It is the antonym of the term ''Occident'', which refers to the Western world. In English, it is largely a meto ...

and

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club is a professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk, England. The club competes in the Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was founded in 1902. Since 1935, Norwich have played their h ...

Career

Hoadley was born in

Battersea Battersea is a large district in southwest London, part of the London Borough of Wandsworth, England. It is centred southwest of Charing Cross and also extends along the south bank of the Thames Tideway. It includes the Battersea Park. Hist ...

, London. He began his career as an apprentice with

. He made his first-team debut on 27 April 1968, as a substitute in 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 ...

match away to

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club ( ) is a professional association football, football club based in Horwich, Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the Englis ...

. At 16 years 112 days, he became Palace's then youngest player. After appearing in 88 matches in all competitions for Crystal Palace, he joined

, in September 1971, whom he captained to the semi-finals of the

1977–78 FA Cup The 1977–78 FA Cup was the 97th season of the world's oldest knockout football competition, The Football Association Challenge Cup, or FA Cup. The final saw Ipswich Town beat Arsenal 1–0, with a goal from Roger Osborne. Qualifying round ...

. Having played nearly 300 games for Orient, his transfer to

in 1978 was the first move under freedom of contract legislation with a tribunal setting his value at £110,000. After three years with Norwich he moved to play in Hong Kong football in February 1982, but was forced to retire from professional football following a knee injury. He returned to England and became a publican.

Later life and death

Following his professional football career Hoadley remained involved with amateur football in the Norfolk area and worked in a variety of jobs before returning to Norwich City in the 1990s as football in the community officer. , he was landlord of a community-run public house in his local village. Hoadley died on 5 May 2024, at the age of 72.

References

External links

Stats and photo
at Sporting Heroes

at Neil Brown's site
Phil Hoadley at holmesdale.net
1952 births 2024 deaths Footballers from the London Borough of Wandsworth People from Battersea English men's footballers Men's association football central defenders Crystal Palace F.C. players Leyton Orient F.C. players Norwich City F.C. players English Football League players Norwich City F.C. non-playing staff {{England-footy-defender-1950s-stub