Ronald Futcher (born 25 September 1956) is an English former footballer who played as a centre-forward. He was the fourth highest career scorer of the North American Soccer League, and made over 400 appearances in total for nine different English Football League clubs. He was noted for his aerial ability and solid ball control. He began his career at

Chester Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...

, before moving on to Luton Town the following year. He signed with

Manchester City Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...

in August 1978, but left Maine Road the following year to concentrate on his career in the United States with the Minnesota Kicks. After the club disbanded he moved on to

Portland Timbers The Portland Timbers are an American professional men's soccer club based in Portland, Oregon. The Timbers compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The Timbers have played their home games at P ...

and then the

Tulsa Roughnecks Tulsa Roughnecks may refer to any of four distinct professional soccer teams: * Tulsa Roughnecks (1978–1984), the original top-flight team that played in the North American Soccer League from 1978 to 1984. * Tulsa Roughnecks (1993–2000), the te ...

, winning the

Soccer Bowl The Soccer Bowl was the annual championship game of the North American Soccer League, which ran from 1968 to 1984. The two top teams from the playoffs faced off in the final to determine the winner of the NASL Trophy. From the league's founding ...

1983 The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to Internet protocol suite, TCP/IP is officially completed (this is consid ...

. The next year he returned to England with

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. As the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. In Barnsley, the population was 96,888 while the wider Borough has ...

, following a brief spell with Dutch side

NAC Breda NAC Breda (), often simply known as NAC, is a Dutch professional football club, based in Breda, Netherlands. NAC Breda play in the Rat Verlegh Stadium, named after their most important player, Antoon 'Rat' Verlegh. They play in the Eerste Divi ...

. He signed with Oldham Athletic in 1985, and then transferred to Bradford City in 1987. He was bought by Port Vale in August 1988 for £35,000, and helped the "Valiants" to win promotion out of the

Third Division In sport, the Third Division, also called Division 3, Division Three, or Division III, is often the third-highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Association football *Belgian Thir ...

via the play-offs in

1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress Street Viaduct, Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxo ...

. He was sold on to Burnley for £60,000 in November 1989, before moving on to Crewe Alexandra. He announced his retirement the next year, after a brief spell in the

Conference A conference is a meeting of two or more experts to discuss and exchange opinions or new information about a particular topic. Conferences can be used as a form of group decision-making, although discussion, not always decisions, are the main p ...

with

Boston United Boston United Football Club is a semi-professional association football club based in Boston, Lincolnshire, England. The club participates in the National League North, at the sixth tier of the English football league system. The club is know ...

Playing career

Futcher started his professional career with hometown club

in the

Fourth Division Fourth or the fourth may refer to: * the ordinal form of the number 4 * ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971 * Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision * Fourth (music), a musical interval * ''The Fourth'' (1972 film), a Sovie ...

, appearing in four first-team games under Ken Roberts in 1973–74. He moved with twin brother Paul on to Harry Haslam's Luton Town for a joint £125,000 fee in June 1974. He scored seven goals in 17 games in the First Division relegation campaign in 1974–75, including a hat-trick against Wolverhampton Wanderers. The "Hatters" remained in the Second Division in 1975–76. He bagged 13 goals in 1976–77 to become the club's joint-top scorer (with Jimmy Husband). He hit 10 goals in 1977–78, as did

Phil Boersma Philip Boersma (born 24 September 1949 in Kirkby) is an English former professional footballer, who played as a midfield/striker for Liverpool and Middlesbrough among others. Life and playing career He began his career with Liverpool, sig ...

, to again become the club's joint-highest scorer. He left Kenilworth Road after David Pleat was appointed manager. In August 1978, Futcher transferred back to the top-flight with

and played at Maine Road for the 1978–79 campaign, scoring seven goals in 17 league games for Tony Book. This included a hat-trick in a 4–1 win over Chelsea at

Stamford Bridge Stamford Bridge may refer to: * Stamford Bridge, East Riding of Yorkshire, a village in England ** Battle of Stamford Bridge, 25 September 1066 * Stamford Bridge (bridge), a bridge in the village of Stamford Bridge * Stamford Bridge (stadium), in L ...

on 17 September. Futcher began playing summers in the North American Soccer League in 1976 with the Minnesota Kicks, spending the next five seasons with the team. The Kicks reached the

1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phila ...

under manager Freddie Goodwin, where they were beaten by

Toronto Metros-Croatia Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

. They reached the Conference semi-finals in

1977 Events January * January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democratic R ...

, losing to the Seattle Sounders. They again reached the semi-finals in

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd go ...

, losing to the New York Cosmos. In

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

, they lost in the First Round of the play-offs to the

, costing coach

Roy McCrohan Roy McCrohan (22 September 1930 – 3 March 2015) was an English professional footballer who played as a wing half. Career Born in Reading, Berkshire, McCrohan spent the majority of his career with Norwich City F.C., Norwich City before playing ...

his job. They again lost out at the First Round in

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning System time epoch begins at 00:00 UTC. * January 9 – ...

under returning manager Freddie Goodwin, losing to

Dallas Tornado The Dallas Tornado was a soccer team based in Dallas, Texas that played in the North American Soccer League (NASL) from 1967 to 1981. Of the twelve teams that comprised the U.S. in 1967, the Tornado franchise played the longest–15 seasons. ...

. The

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...

season was his last at the Metropolitan Stadium, as Kicks lost at the quarter-finals to Fort Lauderdale Strikers under Geoff Barnett. Having been with the Minnesota Kicks from the club's founding in 1976, he remained with the club until it closed in 1981. He played with the

in the summer of 1982, becoming the club's top scorer with 13 goals, including a hat-trick against the Vancouver Whitecaps. He also spent a brief period in early 1983 back in England with Southampton, without making any first–team appearances. He moved on to the

, scoring the second goal in a

2–0 win over Toronto in the

at BC Place despite having initially being suspended following a red card in the previous game. However

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast A ...

proved a disappointing campaign, and he then left the United States for good. He finished with 296 points in 201 career games in the league, including 119 goals. Returning to Europe, Futcher had a spell with

in the Netherlands, scoring three goals in seven Eerste Divisie games in 1983–84. Futcher then headed back to the English Second Division with

in 1984–85 on a £12,000 transfer. He joined league rivals Oldham Athletic after being signed by Joe Royle for a £5,000 fee, and became the club's top scorer in 1985–86 with 17 goals. The "Latics" reached the play-offs in 1986–87, but were beaten by Leeds United in the semi-finals. He then left Boundary Park and was signed by Terry Dolan at Bradford City for £40,000, and scored 19 goals in 38 games in 1987–88 to become the "Bantams" top scorer. Bradford lost to Middlesbrough in the Second Division play-off semi-finals, despite a 2–1 victory in the first leg at Valley Parade. In August 1988, Port Vale manager John Rudge paid £35,000 for his services, having tried unsuccessfully to sign a total of five other strikers. Futcher bagged 19 goals in 54 appearances in the 1988–89 season, including a strike from over 30-yards out in a 6–1 victory over

Cardiff City Cardiff City Football Club ( cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Dinas Caerdydd) is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1899 as R ...

. He played in both legs of the

play-off final The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

victory over Bristol Rovers, setting up

Robbie Earle Robert Fitzgerald Earle MBE (born 27 January 1965) is an English-born Jamaican former international footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. He played 578 league games in senior club football, scoring 136 goals. A former youth player ...

for the first goal of a 2–1 aggregate victory. However he was dropped in October 1989, after losing his spot to new signing Nicky Cross in 1989–90, and he 'forced the issue' and was sold on to Fourth Division Burnley for £60,000 the following month. He hit 10 goals in 30 games for Frank Casper's "Clarets" in 1989–90 to become the club's top scorer. With a full season at Turf Moor in 1990–91, he was the club's top scorer with 20 goals in 43 games, as Burnley reached the play-offs, where they were beaten by Torquay United. He left Burnley in July 1991 and moved on to Crewe Alexandra, scoring four goals in 21 league games in 1991–92. Dario Gradi's "Railwaymen" reached the Fourth Division play-offs, where they were beaten by

Scunthorpe United Scunthorpe United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, England. The side currently competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The tea ...

. He later played two

games for

1992–93 Year 199 ( CXCIX) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was sometimes known as year 952 ''Ab urbe condita''. The denomination 199 for this year has been used since th ...

before he retired.

Style of play

Futcher was a

striker Striker or The Strikers may refer to: People *A participant in a strike action *A participant in a hunger strike *Blacksmith's striker, a type of blacksmith's assistant *Striker's Independent Society, the oldest mystic krewe in America People wi ...

with cool finishing skills and footballing intelligence, but a distinct lack of pace.

Coaching career

As a coach, he has been involved in college soccer in America, including at

Oakland University Oakland University is a public research university in Auburn Hills and Rochester Hills, Michigan. Founded in 1957 through a donation of Matilda Dodge Wilson, it was initially known as Michigan State University-Oakland, operating under the Mi ...

. He has previously worked as Bradford City's Community Officer and Youth Development Officer.

Family

Futcher's twin brother Paul played over 20 years 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, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

, and Paul's son Ben also has extensive Football League experience. Ron's other brother Graham also played professionally. Paul and Graham also started their careers with Chester City.

Career statistics

Source:

Honours

Minnesota Kicks *

runner-up:

Tulsa Roughnecks *

Port Vale * Football League Third Division play-offs:

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Futcher, Ron 1956 births Sportspeople from Chester Living people English footballers Association football forwards Chester City F.C. players Luton Town F.C. players Manchester City F.C. players English expatriate footballers English expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate soccer players in the United States Minnesota Kicks players Portland Timbers (1975–1982) players Southampton F.C. players Tulsa Roughnecks (1978–1984) players English expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Expatriate footballers in the Netherlands NAC Breda players Eerste Divisie players Barnsley F.C. players Oldham Athletic A.F.C. players Bradford City A.F.C. players Port Vale F.C. players Burnley F.C. players Crewe Alexandra F.C. players Boston United F.C. players English Football League players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) indoor players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players