Spike Rawlings (birth name John Anderson Rawlinson; 7 April 1944 – 14 March 2006) was an English professional

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 later became a TV entertainer after retiring as a sportsman.

Career

Football career

After playing for amateur side Corinthian Juniors, Rawlinson - who played as a

centre half In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

- made his professional debut for Bury during the 1964–65 season, making a total of two League appearances that season. After the football season finished, Rawlinson moved to Barrow. During the 1965–66 season, Rawlinson scored two goals in nineteen League games for Barrow. Rawlinson later played non-league football for

Runcorn Runcorn is an industrial town and Runcorn Docks, cargo port in the Borough of Halton, Cheshire, England. Runcorn is on the south bank of the River Mersey, where the estuary narrows to form the Runcorn Gap. It is upstream from the port of Live ...

, and eventually returned to Barrow (although he never appeared in a first team League game for the club again), where he got his first taste of showbiz in 1969 - after the half-time entertainment failed to show up, Rawlinson stepped in and performed instead.

Entertainment career

After finishing his career as a professional footballer, Rawlinson adopted the stage name of Spike Rawlings. His early career was spent warming audiences up on local TV show '' Those Wonderful TV Times''. Rawlings achieved fame by winning the 1976 edition of TV talent show '' Opportunity Knocks'', which allowed him to have his own TV show. Rawlings later had a small part on ''

When the Boat Comes In ''When the Boat Comes In'' is a British television period drama produced by the BBC between 8 January 1976 and 21 April 1981. Across the whole series, events are set in the time period from 1919 to 1937. The series stars James Bolam as Jack Fo ...

'', and he regularly acted in pantomimes.

Later life

During the late 1980s and 1990s, Rawlings suffered from financial issues. He died in March 2006 in hospital, awaiting a liver transplant. A charity night, organised by his children Matthew and Catherine, was held in October 2006 in Rawlings' memory.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rawlings, Spike 1944 births 2006 deaths English men's footballers Bury F.C. players Barrow A.F.C. players Runcorn F.C. Halton players English Football League players Men's association football defenders Reality show winners English television presenters Footballers from Wallsend 20th-century English sportsmen