Ben Burley

Benjamin Burley (2 November 1907 – 25 January 2003)[1] was an English professional footballer who played as an outside-forward for various clubs in the 1930s, including Southampton, Grimsby Town, Norwich City and Darlington.[2] He was later a coach before becoming manager of Chelmsford City in the 1950s.

Ben Burley
Personal information
Full name Benjamin Burley
Date of birth (1907-11-02)2 November 1907
Place of birth Sheffield, England
Date of death 25 January 2003(2003-01-25) (aged 95)
Place of death Great Yarmouth, England
Height 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m)
Position(s) Outside forward
Youth career
Darnall School
Netherhope Institute
Woodhouse Mill United
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1931–1933 Sheffield United 0 (0)
1933–1934 Southampton 2 (0)
1934–1935 Grimsby Town 22 (5)
1935–1938 Norwich City 35 (4)
1938–1939 Darlington 35 (7)
1939–1940 Chelmsford City
Teams managed
1951–1954 Chelmsford City
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Football career

Playing career

Burley was born in Sheffield where he was educated at Darnall School and played football as a youth for Netherhope Institute and Woodhouse Mill United. He also played schoolboy football for the Sheffield and Yorkshire F.A.s. [3]

In November 1931, he joined Sheffield United but never made any first-team appearances before a transfer to the south coast to join Southampton of the Football League Second Division in September 1933. Described as a "stocky and thrustful winger",[3] he was used as cover for Fred Tully and Bill Luckett and his only first-team appearances came at outside-left in the last two matches of the 1933–34 season, both defeats.[4]

In the summer of 1934, he moved to Grimsby Town who had just been promoted to the First Division. Burley remained for a season, scoring five goals in 22 appearances[2] as Grimsby finished fifth in the league, their highest-ever league position.[5]

Burley moved on in the summer of 1935, to return to the Second Division with Norwich City. He made his debut on 7 September 1935[6] and played 35 league matches, scoring four goals,[2][7] over a three-year period, before joining Darlington in May 1938. In his one season at Feethams, Burley rarely missed a match in the Third Division North, scoring seven goals from 35 league appearances.[2]

In July 1939, he dropped out of the Football League to join Chelmsford City, who had joined the Southern League a year earlier. In a season which was truncated because of the Second World War, Chelmsford won the Eastern section and then drew with Lovell's Athletic in the play-offs; both teams were declared joint champions.[8]

During the war, Burley played as a guest for various clubs, including Southend United, Millwall, Brighton & Hove Albion, Queens Park Rangers and Crystal Palace.[3]

Coaching and management career

After the war, Burley obtained his F.A. coaching badge, before working as a coach in the Netherlands.[3]

In June 1951, he returned to Chelmsford City, initially as a coach,[3] before replacing Billy Walsh as manager in August.[9] In Burley's three seasons in charge at Chelmsford, the club finished in the lower half of the Southern League table[8] and in 1954, Burley was replaced by Frank Grice. In his time as manager, Chelmsford City played 105 matches, of which 30 were won, 21 drawn and 54 lost.[10]

Honours

As a player

Chelmsford City

References
  1. Chalk, Gary; Holley, Duncan; Bull, David (2013). All the Saints: A Complete Players' Who's Who of Southampton FC. Southampton: Hagiology Publishing. p. 32. ISBN 978-0-9926-8640-6.
  2. Joyce, Michael (2004). Football League Players' Records 1888 to 1939. Nottingham: Tony Brown. p. 43. ISBN 1-899468-67-6.
  3. Holley, Duncan; Chalk, Gary (1992). The Alphabet of the Saints. ACL & Polar Publishing. p. 54. ISBN 0-9514862-3-3.
  4. Chalk, Gary; Holley, Duncan (1987). Saints – A complete record. Breedon Books. p. 95. ISBN 0-907969-22-4.
  5. "Grimsby Town". Football Club History Database. Retrieved 3 November 2012.
  6. "NCFC Players". Sing Up the River End!. canaryseventyninety. Retrieved 3 November 2012.
  7. "Norwich City Appearances". Sing Up the River End!. canaryseventyninety. 7 February 2012. Retrieved 3 November 2012.
  8. "Chelmsford City". Football Club History Database. Retrieved 3 November 2012.
  9. "City's past player-manager". This is Essex. 24 March 2011. Archived from the original on 5 May 2013. Retrieved 3 November 2012.
  10. Selby, David. "List of City Managers and their league records". The Chelmsford City Historian. Retrieved 3 November 2012.
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