Brian Joicey
Encyclopedia
Brian Joicey was a professional footballer who played for Coventry City
, Sheffield Wednesday
and Barnsley
, England, in a career that lasted from 1969 to 1979. Joicey was a centre forward
who did not play league football until he was 23 years old, he made 277 league appearances and scored 100 goals.
, Tyne and Wear
on the 19th of December 1945. He played as a youth for Clara Vale
On leaving school he played for the Northern League
clubs Ashington
, Blyth Spartans
and Tow Law Town
. He started to make a name for himself as a footballer when playing as an amateur for North Shields
in the late 1960s. He was a member of the North Shields team that won the Northern League and the FA Amateur Cup
in the 1968-69 season, Joicey scored one of the goals which beat Sutton United
2-1 at Wembley Stadium
to win the Amateur Cup that season and made a major contribution, scoring 44 goals as the team finished top of the Northern League.
for the start of the 1969-70 season, he made 39 league appearances and scored nine goals in his two full seasons with Coventry as they finished sixth in Division One in his first season with the club and qualified for the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup
. Joicey scored a goal in the Fairs Cup
victory over Trakia Plovdiv at Highfield Road in October 1970. During his time with Coventry Joicey was never an automatic selection for the first team and played a large amount of reserve team football as Neil Martin
was preferred as first choice centre forward.
and watched him in a game, he was impressed with Joicey’s performance in the same game and it resulted in both players joining Wednesday on August 27 for a combined fee of £100,000. Joicey made his first team debut for Wednesday four days later in an away match at Middlesbrough
and scored his first goal on September 4 against Portsmouth
. Joicey finished leading scorer for Wednesday in each of his first three seasons with the club, one of the highlights of his stay at Hillsborough
was a hat-trick in a 3-2 FA Cup
4th round replay victory over First Division Crystal Palace
at Villa Park on 19 February 1973.
Brian’s fourth season with Wednesday was not a success, he was plagued by injury and poor form as the team were relegated to the Third Division, he scored two goals in 23 appearances as the club tried numerous permutations in the forward line. Another unsuccessful season (1975–76) led to Joicey being signed by Fourth Division Barnsley on a free transfer in July 1976.
. He was taken to hospital where initial tests indicated kidney damage. It was announced a few days later that the first diagnosis was wrong and he had suffered a (minor) stroke
. Brian was forced to retire from professional football although he did make some appearances later in non league football, most notably for Frickley Athletic
and Matlock Town
. Barnsley organised a testimonial match against a combined Sheffield Wednesday and Sheffield United
side to mark the end of his career with Mick Channon
and David Speedie
taking part amongst other stars. It was also revealed during the Coca-Cola Championship live on BBC Two
between Nottingham Forest and Cardiff City
on 5th April 2010 that Wolverhampton Wanderers manager Mick McCarthy
used to clean Joicey's boots during their time at Barnsley together, a humorous revelation that made BBC commentator Guy Mowbray
laugh and vaguely reminisce, after Mowbray commented that Cardiff City captain Jay Bothroyd
used to clean Chelsea
defender Ashley Cole
's boots during Bothroyd's time as a trainee at Arsenal
.
franchise in the south of Sheffield
.
Coventry City F.C.
Coventry City Football Club, otherwise known as the Sky Blues owing to the traditional colour of their strip, are a professional English Football league club based in Coventry...
, Sheffield Wednesday
Sheffield Wednesday F.C.
Sheffield Wednesday Football Club are a football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, who are currently competing in the Football League One in the 2011-12 season, in England. Sheffield Wednesday are one of the oldest professional clubs in the world and the fourth oldest in the...
and Barnsley
Barnsley F.C.
Barnsley Football Club are a professional English football club based in the town of Barnsley, South Yorkshire. Nicknamed the Tykes, they were founded in 1887 under the name Barnsley St. Peter's...
, England, in a career that lasted from 1969 to 1979. Joicey was a centre forward
Striker
Forwards, also known as strikers, are the players on a team in association football who play nearest to the opposing team's goal, and are therefore principally responsible for scoring goals...
who did not play league football until he was 23 years old, he made 277 league appearances and scored 100 goals.
Amateur in the 1960s
Brian Joicey was born in the Winlaton area of BlaydonBlaydon
Blaydon-on-Tyne is a town in the North East of England in the Metropolitan Borough of Gateshead. The former urban district, however, extends much further, its fourteen and a half square miles constituting the largest administrative district, after Newcastle, on Tyneside...
, Tyne and Wear
Tyne and Wear
Tyne and Wear is a metropolitan county in north east England around the mouths of the Rivers Tyne and Wear. It came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972...
on the 19th of December 1945. He played as a youth for Clara Vale
Clara Vale
Clara Vale is a hamlet situated on the south bank of the River Tyne in Tyne and Wear, England. Once an independent village in County Durham it became incorporated into the new metropolitan county of Tyne and Wear in 1974 and later became part of the Metropolitan Borough of Gateshead.-Location:Clara...
On leaving school he played for the Northern League
Northern League (football)
The Northern League is a football league in North East England for semi-professional and amateur teams. Having been founded in 1889, it is the oldest surviving football league in the world after the Football League....
clubs Ashington
Ashington A.F.C.
Ashington A.F.C. is an English non-league football club from Ashington, Northumberland, currently playing in the Northern League Division One. The team, nicknamed "The Colliers", play their home matches at Woodhorn Lane....
, Blyth Spartans
Blyth Spartans A.F.C.
Blyth Spartans A.F.C. are a professional football club who play in the Conference North, and are based in the town of Blyth, Northumberland, England. They are often the most Northerly team in whichever league or cup they are playing in. They are managed by former Spartans player Steve Cuggy.They...
and Tow Law Town
Tow Law Town F.C.
Tow Law Town A.F.C. is an English non-league football club from Tow Law, County Durham, currently playing in the Northern League Division One. The team, nicknamed "The Lawyers", play their home games at Ironworks Road...
. He started to make a name for himself as a footballer when playing as an amateur for North Shields
North Shields F.C.
North Shields F.C. are a football club based in North Shields, England. They reached the 2nd round of the FA Cup twice in their history – in 1933–34 and 1982–83. Currently they are members of the Northern League Division Two...
in the late 1960s. He was a member of the North Shields team that won the Northern League and the FA Amateur Cup
FA Amateur Cup
The FA Amateur Cup was an English football competition for amateur clubs. It commenced in 1893 and ended in 1974 when The Football Association abolished official amateur status.-History:...
in the 1968-69 season, Joicey scored one of the goals which beat Sutton United
Sutton United F.C.
Sutton United Football Club is an English football club currently playing in the Conference South. They are based in Sutton, London, and play their home games at the Borough Sports Ground in Gander Green Lane....
2-1 at Wembley Stadium
Wembley Stadium
The original Wembley Stadium, officially known as the Empire Stadium, was a football stadium in Wembley, a suburb of north-west London, standing on the site now occupied by the new Wembley Stadium that opened in 2007...
to win the Amateur Cup that season and made a major contribution, scoring 44 goals as the team finished top of the Northern League.
Coventry City
Joicey’s success with North Shields alerted some professional league clubs and he surprisingly signed for First Division Coventry City in preference to Newcastle UnitedNewcastle United F.C.
Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End and Newcastle West End, and has played at its current home ground, St James' Park, since the merger...
for the start of the 1969-70 season, he made 39 league appearances and scored nine goals in his two full seasons with Coventry as they finished sixth in Division One in his first season with the club and qualified for the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup
Inter-Cities Fairs Cup
The Inter-Cities Fairs Cup was a European football competition played between 1955 and 1971. The competition was the idea of Swiss pools supremo Ernst Thommen, Ottorino Barassi from Italy, and the English Football Association general secretary Stanley Rous, all of whom later became senior officials...
. Joicey scored a goal in the Fairs Cup
Inter-Cities Fairs Cup 1970-71
The thirteenth and final Inter-Cities Fairs Cup was played over the 1970-71 season. The competition was won by Leeds United for the second time over two legs in the final against Juventus. It was the first time the competition final had been won on away goals. The competition was replaced the next...
victory over Trakia Plovdiv at Highfield Road in October 1970. During his time with Coventry Joicey was never an automatic selection for the first team and played a large amount of reserve team football as Neil Martin
Neil Martin
Neil Martin is a Scottish former football player, who scored 100 league goals in both Scotland and England and won three full international caps for Scotland in the 1960s and 1970s. Known for his strength, power, bravery and commitment, Martin scored consistently in a journeyman career...
was preferred as first choice centre forward.
Sheffield Wednesday
Joicey started the 1971-72 season with Coventry but before the end of August he had joined Second Division Sheffield Wednesday. Wednesday manager Derek Dooley was interested in signing City’s Dave ClementsDave Clements
Dave Clements in Larne in County Antrim, was a football player and manager from Northern Ireland. He started his career as a left winger but also played as a defensive midfielder and left full back throughout a career which lasted from 1964 to 1976 in which time he played for Coventry City,...
and watched him in a game, he was impressed with Joicey’s performance in the same game and it resulted in both players joining Wednesday on August 27 for a combined fee of £100,000. Joicey made his first team debut for Wednesday four days later in an away match at Middlesbrough
Middlesbrough F.C.
Middlesbrough Football Club , also known as Boro, are an English football club based in Middlesbrough, who play in the Football League Championship. Formed in 1876, they have played at the Riverside Stadium since August 1995, their third ground since turning professional in 1889...
and scored his first goal on September 4 against Portsmouth
Portsmouth F.C.
Portsmouth Football Club is an English football club based in the city of Portsmouth. The club is nicknamed Pompey. Portsmouth's home matches have been played at Fratton Park since the club's formation in 1898. The team currently play in the Football League Championship after being relegated from...
. Joicey finished leading scorer for Wednesday in each of his first three seasons with the club, one of the highlights of his stay at Hillsborough
Hillsborough Stadium
Hillsborough Stadium is the home of Sheffield Wednesday football club, Sheffield, England. Football has been played at the ground since it was opened on 2 September 1899, when Wednesday moved from their original ground at Olive Grove. Today it is a 39,812 capacity all-seater stadium, making it the...
was a hat-trick in a 3-2 FA Cup
FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's...
4th round replay victory over First Division Crystal Palace
Crystal Palace F.C.
Crystal Palace Football Club are an English Football league club based in South Norwood, London. The team plays its home matches at Selhurst Park, where they have been based since 1924. The club currently competes in the second tier of English Football, The Championship.Crystal Palace was formed in...
at Villa Park on 19 February 1973.
Brian’s fourth season with Wednesday was not a success, he was plagued by injury and poor form as the team were relegated to the Third Division, he scored two goals in 23 appearances as the club tried numerous permutations in the forward line. Another unsuccessful season (1975–76) led to Joicey being signed by Fourth Division Barnsley on a free transfer in July 1976.
Barnsley
Joicey's time with Barnsley was quite successful, scoring 43 goals in 93 league appearances. He was ever present in his first season (1976–77) and ended that campaign as Division Four’s top scorer with 26 league goals, he also scored an FA Cup hat-trick against Boston United that year. His career was sadly cut short by injury in November 1978 when he collapsed on the field in Barnsley’s away match with York CityYork City F.C.
York City Football Club is an English football club based in York, North Yorkshire. The club participates in the Conference National, the fifth tier of English football. Founded in 1922, they joined the Football League in 1929, and have spent most of their history in the lower divisions...
. He was taken to hospital where initial tests indicated kidney damage. It was announced a few days later that the first diagnosis was wrong and he had suffered a (minor) stroke
Stroke
A stroke, previously known medically as a cerebrovascular accident , is the rapidly developing loss of brain function due to disturbance in the blood supply to the brain. This can be due to ischemia caused by blockage , or a hemorrhage...
. Brian was forced to retire from professional football although he did make some appearances later in non league football, most notably for Frickley Athletic
Frickley Athletic F.C.
Frickley Athletic F.C. are a football club based in South Elmsall, in West Yorkshire, England. They were established in 1910 as Frickley Colliery F.C., and changed to their present name in 1974.-History:...
and Matlock Town
Matlock Town F.C.
Matlock Town F.C. is an English football club based at Causeway Lane in Matlock, Derbyshire.-History:The club was established in the late 1870s and have competed in the Central Alliance and the Midland Counties League before reaching the Northern Premier League.In the 1974–75 season the club won...
. Barnsley organised a testimonial match against a combined Sheffield Wednesday and Sheffield United
Sheffield United F.C.
Sheffield United Football Club is a professional English football club based in the city of Sheffield, South Yorkshire.They were the first sporting team to use the name 'United' and are nicknamed 'The Blades', thanks to Sheffield's worldwide reputation for steel production...
side to mark the end of his career with Mick Channon
Mick Channon
Michael Roger "Mick" Channon is a sportsman who enjoyed a career as a striker with Southampton and England in the 1970s and later became a hugely successful racehorse trainer.-Southampton:...
and David Speedie
David Speedie
David Robert Speedie is a retired Scottish footballer who played for several clubs in England during the 1980s and 1990s, most notably Chelsea, Coventry City, Liverpool and Blackburn Rovers. He accumulated more than 500 football league appearances and scored almost 150 goals in a 14 year...
taking part amongst other stars. It was also revealed during the Coca-Cola Championship live on BBC Two
BBC Two
BBC Two is the second television channel operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It covers a wide range of subject matter, but tending towards more 'highbrow' programmes than the more mainstream and popular BBC One. Like the BBC's other domestic TV and radio...
between Nottingham Forest and Cardiff City
Cardiff city
Cardiff City may refer to:* Cardiff city centre* Cardiff City Council* Cardiff City F.C.* Cardiff City L.F.C.* Cardiff City Stadium...
on 5th April 2010 that Wolverhampton Wanderers manager Mick McCarthy
Mick McCarthy
Michael Joseph "Mick" McCarthy is an English-born former Irish international footballer who is currently the manager of Premier League club Wolverhampton Wanderers, where he has been in charge since July 2006....
used to clean Joicey's boots during their time at Barnsley together, a humorous revelation that made BBC commentator Guy Mowbray
Guy Mowbray
Guy Mowbray is a football commentator on British television, who supports York City FC, and is currently with the BBC. Whilst working for Eurosport at the 1998 World Cup, he became the youngest ever television commentator on a World Cup Final, aged 26...
laugh and vaguely reminisce, after Mowbray commented that Cardiff City captain Jay Bothroyd
Jay Bothroyd
Jay Bothroyd is an English footballer who plays for Queens Park Rangers as a striker. He has also played for the England national team. He was a product of the Arsenal Academy and came to prominence during the 1999–2000 FA Youth Cup Final win against Coventry City...
used to clean Chelsea
Chelsea F.C.
Chelsea Football Club are an English football club based in West London. Founded in 1905, they play in the Premier League and have spent most of their history in the top tier of English football. Chelsea have been English champions four times, FA Cup winners six times and League Cup winners four...
defender Ashley Cole
Ashley Cole
Ashley Cole is an Barbadian-English professional footballer who plays for Chelsea and the England national team. He plays as a left-back and has been named one of the best in the world....
's boots during Bothroyd's time as a trainee at Arsenal
Arsenal F.C.
Arsenal Football Club is a professional English Premier League football club based in North London. One of the most successful clubs in English football, it has won 13 First Division and Premier League titles and 10 FA Cups...
.
Retirement
After retiring Brian opened "Brian Joicey Motors" a second hand car dealership on Middlewood Road, just half a mile from the Sheffield Wednesday ground and now works as a car salesman for a HondaHonda
is a Japanese public multinational corporation primarily known as a manufacturer of automobiles and motorcycles.Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, as well as the world's largest manufacturer of internal combustion engines measured by volume, producing more than...
franchise in the south of Sheffield
Sheffield
Sheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and with some of its southern suburbs annexed from Derbyshire, the city has grown from its largely...
.