Dick White (footballer)
Encyclopedia
- For other people with the same name, see Richard WhiteRichard WhiteRichard White may refer to:*Richard A. White, American public transit official*Richard White, 2nd Earl of Bantry , Irish representative peer*Richard White , cricketer*Richard Crawford White , U.S...
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Dick White (born 18 August 1931) was a professional footballer from 1950 to 1964.
Life and playing career
Born in ScunthorpeScunthorpe
Scunthorpe is a town within North Lincolnshire, England. It is the administrative centre of the North Lincolnshire unitary authority, and had an estimated total resident population of 72,514 in 2010. A predominantly industrial town, Scunthorpe, the United Kingdom's largest steel processing centre,...
, Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire is a county in the east of England. It borders Norfolk to the south east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south west, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire to the west, South Yorkshire to the north west, and the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north. It also borders...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, Dick played as an amateur for Scunthorpe Sports and Brumby Amateurs before he turned pro with his local club Scunthorpe United where he stayed for 5 years amassing 133 appearances while scoring 7 goals.
Liverpool
Liverpool F.C.
Liverpool Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Liverpool, Merseyside. Liverpool has won eighteen League titles, second most in English football, seven FA Cups and a record seven League Cups...
manager Don Welsh
Don Welsh
Donald "Don" Welsh was an English football player and manager. As a player he played at inside left for Charlton Athletic and for England, winning the FA Cup with Charlton in 1946–47.-Playing career:...
was alerted to White and decided to signed him for £8,000 on 10 November 1955; he made his debut on 10 March 1956 in a league match at Oakwell
Oakwell Stadium
Oakwell is a multi-purpose sports development in Barnsley, South Yorkshire, England used primarily by Barnsley Football Club for playing their home fixtures, and those of their reserves....
. 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...
couldn't live with a rampant Liverpool that day as the Reds took both points back to Anfield
Anfield
Anfield is an association football stadium in the district of Anfield, Liverpool, England, with a seating capacity of 45,522. It has been the home of Liverpool F.C. since their formation in 1892 and was originally the home of Everton F.C. from 1884 to 1892, before they moved to Goodison Park...
from a 5-0 victory. White's only goal for Liverpool came in a 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...
3rd round replay at Roots Hall
Roots Hall
Roots Hall is a multi-use sports stadium in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England, primarily used for football games and is the home of the Football League Two club Southend United. With a capacity of 12,392 Roots Hall is the largest football stadium in Essex, and is the current venue for the final of...
on 8 January 1958. Southend United
Southend United F.C.
Southend United Football Club is an English football club based at Roots Hall Stadium, Prittlewell, Southend-on-Sea, Essex, who play in Football League Two. Their home ground is Roots Hall, and the club plan to move into a new 22,000-seater stadium located at Fossetts Farm.-Stadium:The club has had...
had already pulled off a surprise 1-1 draw at Anfield the previous Saturday and almost finished off the job on home soil. John Molyneux
John Molyneux
John Molyneux VC was an English recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.-Details:...
scored a 1st-minute opener, his first for the club; unfortunately he followed this up by netting an own goal. White in the 79th and Tony Rowley
Tony Rowley
Antonio Camilio "Tony" Rowley is a Welsh former-footballer who played as a striker in the Football League.-External links:*...
two minutes later helped the Reds avoid embarrassment by making the score 3-2.
White made 8 appearances after signing on at Anfield and just 5 in his first full season; things were better for White in the 1957/58 campaign as he, along with Ronnie Moran
Ronnie Moran
Ronnie Moran is a former Liverpool captain and coach, who has twice served as caretaker manager...
, headed the appearance chart beings called upon 46 times, both missing just 1 league fixture. The following season was again a good one for White as he was the only ever-present playing 43 games; the one downside was that Liverpool, again, finished outside the promotion spots for the 3rd time on the spin. It was also in this season that Liverpool were memorably knocked out 2-1 by non league Worcester City in the FA Cup third round. White scored an own goal for Worcester's second, which proved to be the decisive goal.
The pressure was all too much for manager Phil Taylor who resigned as boss stating the stress of trying put Liverpool back where they belong was too much to take. He was replaced by a man who become an icon at Anfield: Bill Shankly
Bill Shankly
William "Bill" Shankly, OBE was a Scottish football player and manager, most noted for managing Liverpool between 1959 and 1974. One of Britain's most successful and respected football managers, Shankly was also a fine player whose career was interrupted by the Second World War...
. Shankly liked the way White played and put him in his plans; he played 43 times as Liverpool, again finished just outside the all important top 2. White again featured highly in the 1960/61 season: he was made captain and played in all 47 fixtures, but it was disappointment once more as the Anfield club finished 3rd for the 5th straight time.
Enough was enough as far as Shankly was concerned: changes were needed and he decided to go back to his home land to make them. He bought Ian St John from Motherwell
Motherwell F.C.
Motherwell Football & Athletic Club are a Scottish professional football club based in Motherwell, North Lanarkshire. The club compete in the Scottish Premier League and are one of only seven teams to have remained in this league since it was founded in 1998...
and, more significantly for White, Ron Yeats
Ron Yeats
Ronald 'Ron' Yeats is a Scottish former footballer. He was the captain of the first great Liverpool team of the 1960s.-Life and playing career:...
from Dundee United
Dundee United F.C.
Dundee United Football Club is a Scottish professional football club located in the city of Dundee. Formed in 1909, originally as Dundee Hibernian, the club changed to the present name in 1923...
. Yeats was immediately made club captain which virtually guaranteed him a starting role and White was the man he replaced, although Dick did start the 1961/62 season in the side at right-back.
Liverpool remained unbeaten for the first 11 matches, winning 10, but were brought back down to earth when 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...
beat them 2-0 at Ayresome Park
Ayresome Park
-External links:**-References:...
; ironically Molyneux had come in for his first appearance of the season replacing White. Dick was put back into the starting line-up the following week and Liverpool got back to winning ways thrashing Walsall
Walsall F.C.
Walsall Football Club are an English association football club based in Walsall, West Midlands. They currently play in League One. The club was founded in 1888 as Walsall Town Swifts, an amalgamation of Walsall Town F.C. and Walsall Swifts F.C. The club was one of the founder members of the Second...
by 6 goals to 1.
White was eventually replaced by Molyneux but did manage to get 25 appearances under his belt (24 league) as Liverpool finally broke their 3rd place hoodoo by winning the 2nd Division title by 8 clear points over Leyton Orient
Leyton Orient F.C.
Leyton Orient F.C. are an English professional football club in East London. They currently play in Football League One and are known to their fans as the O's.Leyton Orient have spent one season in the top flight of English football, in 1962–63...
.
White was then deemed surplus to requirements by Shankly and after 217 appearances for the Merseyside
Merseyside
Merseyside is a metropolitan county in North West England, with a population of 1,365,900. It encompasses the metropolitan area centred on both banks of the lower reaches of the Mersey Estuary, and comprises five metropolitan boroughs: Knowsley, St Helens, Sefton, Wirral, and the city of Liverpool...
club he was allowed to leave and did so in May 1962. The recently installed Doncaster Rovers
Doncaster Rovers F.C.
Doncaster Rovers Football Club is an English football club, based at the Keepmoat Stadium in Doncaster, South Yorkshire. The team currently competes in the Football League Championship, after being promoted via the League One play-offs in 2008, and have remained there since.The club was founded in...
manager Oscar Hold saw the opportunity of signing an experienced 5'11", 12 st defender and paid around £3,500 for his services. White made his Donnie debut on his 31st birthday, 18 August 1962, in a 4th Division fixture against Brentford
Brentford F.C.
Brentford Football Club are a professional English football club based in Brentford in the London Borough of Hounslow. They are currently playing in Football League One....
at Belle Vue
Belle Vue (football)
Belle Vue was the home of English professional football club Doncaster Rovers from 1922 to 2006. The ground was affectionately called by fans as 'Old Belle Vue' or OBV.-History:...
. Unfortunately for both White and Rovers the result didn't go their way as the Bees took both the points back to Griffin Park
Griffin Park
Griffin Park is a football ground situated in the London Borough of Hounslow, west London. It has been the home ground of League One side Brentford since it was built in 1904. It is known for being the only English league football ground to have a pub on each corner, and is situated in a...
after a 2-0 victory.
White again switched between the full-back and centre-back roles during his 2 year spell at Doncaster and he eventually bagged 92 appearances for the Yorkshire
Yorkshire
Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...
club. Kettering Town
Kettering Town F.C.
Kettering Town Football Club are a football club originating in Kettering, Northamptonshire but currently based in the nearby village of Irthlingborough. The club play in the Conference National after winning the Conference North in 2007–08...
then approached White with the offer of a player/manager role for the Northamptonshire
Northamptonshire
Northamptonshire is a landlocked county in the English East Midlands, with a population of 629,676 as at the 2001 census. It has boundaries with the ceremonial counties of Warwickshire to the west, Leicestershire and Rutland to the north, Cambridgeshire to the east, Bedfordshire to the south-east,...
side which he duly accepted.
After his spell at the helm of Kettering White hung up his boots. He then bought a motor business in Nottingham
Nottingham
Nottingham is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England. It is located in the ceremonial county of Nottinghamshire and represents one of eight members of the English Core Cities Group...
where he stayed until his retirement.
Career Honours
- Scunthorpe United F.C (1950–1955) - 133 appearances, 7 goals
- Liverpool F.C (1955–1962) - 217 appearances, 1 goal
- Second Division Championship winners medal (1962)
- Doncaster Rovers F.C (1962–1964) - 92 appearances