Harold Bodle

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Harold Bodle
Personal information
Date of birth (1920-10-04)4 October 1920[1]
Place of birth Woodlands, Doncaster, England
Date of death 1 January 2005(2005-01-01) (aged 84)[1]
Place of death Bournemouth, England
Height 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)[1]
Position(s)
Wing half
Youth career
Silverwood Colliery
Ridgehill Athletic
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1938 Rotherham United 9 (0)
1938–1949 Birmingham City 94 (32)
1949–1952 Bury 119 (40)
1952 Betteshanger Colliery Welfare
1952–1953 Stockport County 29 (6)
1953–1957 Accrington Stanley 94 (13)
Managerial career
1952 Betteshanger Colliery Welfare (player-manager)
1959–1960 Accrington Stanley
1974–1976 Burton Albion
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Harold Bodle (4 October 1920 – 1 January 2005) was an English

the Football League. He was particularly noted for juggling the ball, a skill he claimed to have perfected as a child by repeatedly kicking a small ball against the sideboard at home.[2]

Biography

Bodle was born in

the Football League[4] and just past his 18th birthday Bodle was transferred to First Division club Birmingham for a fee of £2,000.[2] His reaction to the move was quoted thus:[5]

"It was a total surprise when [Rotherham] manager Reg Freeman pulled me aside at the training ground to tell me of The Blues' interest. I was so excited that when I went back to the training session I lost concentration and went sliding off onto the gravel edge. When I met up with Blues officials later that day I had both my hands bandaged and found it hard to sign the contract!"

Bodle played one first-team game for his new club before the outbreak of the Second World War put an end to League football. He made occasional appearances for the club in wartime competition, as well as guesting for Rotherham and Doncaster, for whom he scored 27 goals.[6] He returned to Birmingham to play a full season (and score 16 goals) in the 1945–46 regional competition Football League South, which Birmingham won, and contributed three goals in their run to the FA Cup semifinal.[7] By this time he was a fixture in the side. He scored 16 goals in all competitions in the first post-war League season – only Cyril Trigg got more for Birmingham – and 14 the following year, which made him the club's leading scorer and helped them to promotion back to the top flight. Once in the First Division Bodle's goals stopped coming, and in March 1949 the club accepted an offer for his services of £9,500 from Second Division Bury.

He spent just over three seasons at Bury, in that time playing well over 100 games and scoring 40 League goals, and finished the 1951–52 season as the club's top scorer with 19 goals.

non-league football, Bury were not entitled to a transfer fee.[8] When a few weeks later Bodle signed for Stockport County for a fee of £7,000, Bury claimed compensation as they still retained his Football League registration. Payment of £1,750 allowed the move to proceed.[1]

Bodle left Stockport at the end of the season, and on 13 August 1953 signed for

wing half, but even so he scored three goals in his first two games for the club. He captained the side for two years, leading them to runners-up spot in the division in his second season. The Accrington Observer remembers him as "a popular captain with an inspiring personality and an astute tactician".[6] He stayed at the club a further two years, playing less frequently as injury, ill-health and the influx of Scottish players brought in by manager Walter Galbraith
took their toll, retiring as a player in May 1957.

Galbraith resigned as Stanley manager in 1958, and Bodle was considered for the job, but the experienced

player-manager in his place, purportedly because the club were unable to afford a non-playing manager.[1] In 1974, after 14 years of running a grocery shop, Bodle returned to football management with Burton Albion. He took them to the semi-final of the FA Trophy in 1975[9]
and resigned in February 1976.

Bodle went on to run a sub-post-office in Derbyshire[1] before retiring to Bournemouth, where he died at the age of 84.[8]

Honours

Birmingham City

Bury

  • Club's top scorer: 1952

Accrington Stanley

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Lindberg, Greger. "The Best Team". Accrington Stanley History. Archived from the original on 5 June 2011.
  2. ^
    ISBN 978-1-85983-010-9
    .
  3. ^ Hodgson, Alan. "Silverwood Colliery F.C. Players who joined Football League clubs". Silverwood Colliery 1900–1994. John Doxey. Archived from the original on 4 July 2007. Retrieved 29 August 2007.
  4. ^ "A-Z Past Players (Pre-1939)". Rotherham United F.C. Archived from the original (DOC) on 10 August 2011.
  5. ISBN 1-900722-12-7
    .
  6. ^ a b "Former Stanley boss dies". Accrington Observer. 13 January 2001. Retrieved 7 July 2015.
  7. ^ Matthews, pp. 181, 236–240.
  8. ^ a b "Former Shakers star Harold dies at 84". Lancashire Evening Telegraph. 14 January 2005. Retrieved 7 July 2015.
  9. ^ Lindberg, Greger. "Managers". Accrington Stanley History. Archived from the original on 5 June 2011.

External links

  • Harold Bodle at Post War English & Scottish Football League A–Z Player's Transfer Database
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