Reginald Goodacre (24 July 1908 – 28 September 1998) 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

right-back 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 ...

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

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Stratford, London, Stratford, East London, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English f ...

and

Mansfield Town Mansfield Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the third level of the English football league system. The club was formed in 1897 as Mans ...

. Goodacre played

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 Boston Town before joining

for the 1930–31 season. His first game came against

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

on 14 February 1931, along with fellow debutant Joe Musgrave. He spent three seasons at Upton Park, the first two in the First Division where he made 16 appearances. In 1932–33, he made a further four appearances for West Ham in the Second Division before leaving for

. There, he made 18 appearances in 1933–34, scoring one goal. He then joined

Midland League The Midland Football League, officially known as the Capelli Sport Midland Football League since January 2025 for sponsorship reasons, is an English football league that was founded in 2014 by the merger of the former Midland Alliance and Midl ...

club

Peterborough United Peterborough United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third level of the English football league system. Peterborough United formed in ...

and made 35 appearances in 1934–35. After a short spell at Chesterfield, where he made no competitive appearances, he joined

Gainsborough Trinity Gainsborough Trinity Football Club is a Association football, football club based in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, England. Established in 1873, the club became members of the English Football League, Football League i ...

. He was a cousin of professional footballers Eric Houghton and

Roy Houghton Roy Houghton (born 31 March 1921) is an English former footballer who played as an outside-right in the Football League for Notts County. Houghton made eight appearances for Notts County during the 1937–38 season. After spells at Grantham a ...

References

1908 births 1998 deaths People from Billingborough Footballers from Lincolnshire English men's footballers Men's association football fullbacks Lincoln City F.C. players Boston Town F.C. (1920s) players West Ham United F.C. players Mansfield Town F.C. players Peterborough United F.C. players Gainsborough Trinity F.C. players English Football League players 20th-century English sportsmen {{England-footy-defender-1900s-stub