Johnny Goodchild

Johnny Goodchild (2 January 1939 - 25 August 2011) was a professional footballer who scored 71 goals from 238 appearances in the Football League playing as an inside forward for Sunderland, Brighton & Hove Albion, York City and Darlington.[2]

Johnny Goodchild
Personal information
Full name John Goodchild[1]
Date of birth (1939-01-02) 2 January 1939
Place of birth Sherburn Hill, County Durham, England
Date of death August 25, 2011(2011-08-25) (aged 72)
Place of death Durham
Height 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)[1]
Playing position(s) Inside forward
Youth career
– Ludworth Juniors
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1957–1961 Sunderland 44 (21)
1961–1966 Brighton & Hove Albion 163 (44)
1966–1967 York City 29 (6)
1967–1968 Darlington 2 (0)
– Goole Town
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Career

Goodchild was born in Sherburn Hill, County Durham. He worked as a miner and played for Ludworth Juniors before signing for Sunderland.[3] He scored on his first-team debut, on 4 September 1957 in a 3–2 home defeat of Leicester City in the First Division, and produced 16 goals the following season.[4] He then fell out of favour, and, despite scoring a hat-trick away at Leeds United in February 1961, his first game of the 1960–61 season, never appeared for the club again. Goodchild remembers "thinking to myself that if I couldn't get into the team after scoring a hat-trick away from home, I'd be on the transfer list at the end of the season. That's exactly what happened."[3]

He joined Second Division club Brighton & Hove Albion, and in his first season with the club, was their joint-top scorer (alongside Bobby Laverick and Tony Nicholas) with 10 goals in all competitions. Two years later, by which time the club had been twice relegated and were now playing in Division Four, he was top scorer on his own, with 15 goals in all competitions.[5] In 1964–65, Goodchild was one of six goalscorers to reach double figures as Albion won the Fourth Division title.[6]

He returned to the north of England in 1966, spending a season with York City and a brief spell with Darlington.[2]

Goodchild was a keen cricketer. He first played for his village side, in Littletown, at 14, and appeared for Durham Second XI in 1959.[7][8] He played cricket for many years in the Durham County League for Ushaw Moor CC.

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References
  1. Carder, Tim & Harris, Roger (1997). Albion A–Z: A Who's Who of Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. Hove: Goldstone Books. p. 96. ISBN 0-9521337-1-7.
  2. "John Goodchild". UK A–Z Transfers. Neil Brown. Retrieved 9 July 2010.
  3. "Hero To Zero For Goodchild". The Northern Echo. 25 July 2005. Retrieved 9 July 2010.
  4. "Player Details: John Goodchild". The StatCat. Archived from the original on 16 May 2008. Retrieved 9 July 2010.
  5. Carder & Harris, Albion A–Z, p. 338.
  6. "Albion Icons: The Fiery Captain Who Loved A Good Punch Up". The Argus. Brighton. 2 July 2001. Retrieved 9 July 2010.
  7. Amos, Mike (23 March 2007). "Littletown all out after 120 years". The Northern Echo. Archived from the original on 24 May 2009. Retrieved 24 October 2010.
  8. "Durham Second XI v Northumberland Second XI in 1959". CricketArchive. Retrieved 9 July 2010.
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