John Archer (footballer, born 1941)

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For other people with the same name, see John Archer (disambiguation).

John Archer
Personal information
Full name John Archer[1]
Date of birth (1941-06-18)18 June 1941[1]
Place of birth Biddulph, England[1]
Date of death 12 December 2021(2021-12-12) (aged 80)[2]
Position(s)
Inside forward; midfielder
Youth career
Port Vale
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1958–1961 Port Vale 10 (3)
1961–1966 Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic 139 (37)
1966–1968 Crewe Alexandra 59 (16)
1968–1969 → Huddersfield Town (loan) 9 (0)
1969–1972 Chesterfield 116 (24)
1972–1974 Sandbach Ramblers
1974–1975 Congleton Town
1982 Nantwich Town
Total 335 (82)
Managerial career
1972–1974 Sandbach Ramblers (player-manager)
1982 Nantwich Town (player-manager)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

John "Dan" Archer (18 June 1941 – 12 December 2021) was an English former

inside forward
for five professional teams.

He began his career with Port Vale in July 1958, before moving on to Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic in May 1961. Five years later he signed with Crewe Alexandra for a £3,000 fee. He helped the club to win promotion out of the Fourth Division in 1967–68, but was sold on to Huddersfield Town for £8,000 in January 1968. He then signed with Chesterfield for a £1,000 fee in May 1969, and captained the club to the Fourth Division title in 1969–70. He later played for Sandbach Ramblers, Congleton Town and Nantwich Town, and scouted for Chesterfield.

Career

Port Vale

Archer graduated through the Port Vale junior squad to sign as a professional in July 1958.[1] He made his Third Division debut in the 1959–60 campaign under manager Norman Low. He scored twice against Wrexham in a 3–1 victory at Vale Park on 16 April 1960, finishing the campaign with three goals in six games.[1] However, he featured just four times on 1960–61, and was moved on to league rivals Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic on a free transfer in May 1961, then managed by Bill McGarry.[1]

Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic

He scored two goals on his club debut.[3] Bournemouth were pushing promotion, and finished in third place, three points short of promotion in 1961–62. They finished in fifth place in 1962–63, six points short of their target. A fourth-place finish followed in 1963–64, four points shy of promotion. They then dropped to eleventh place in 1964–65 under Reg Flewin. Archer left the club following a further slip down the table in 1965–66 under Freddie Cox's stewardship. He scored 37 goals in 139 league games during his time on the south coast.

Crewe Alexandra

He then moved on to

inside forward into a midfielder.[4] Crewe were aiming for promotion in the Fourth Division, but the "Railwaymen" finished fifth in 1966–67
, four points short of promotion. Crewe won promotion the following season, though Archer left the club midway through.

Huddersfield Town

In January 1968, Archer was sold to

1967–68 campaign and struggled with injuries.[5]

Chesterfield

Archer remained in the Fourth Division after putting pen to paper with Chesterfield, where he was also appointed club captain after being signed for a £1,000 fee in May 1969; manager Jimmy McGuigan could have signed him on a free transfer but decided to authorise the transfer fee so as to prevent other clubs from making Archer an offer.[4][5] After finishing just one place and two points above the re-election zone in 1968–69, the "Spireites" topped the division in 1969–70; Archer scored two goals direct from corners during the 1969–70 season.[4] They then finished fifth in 1970–71, nine points short of a second-successive promotion. He took over penalty taking duties from Kevin Randall in 1971.[5] Archer retired after the club finished in mid-table in 1971–72. Fans nicknamed him Dan Archer after The Archers radio programme.[5] He played a total of 129 games for Chesterfield, scoring 24 goals.

Style of play

Able to play as an

inside forward or midfielder, Archer was a slow, stocky and aggressive player who had good technical qualities, vision and set piece ability.[4] These abilities made up for a lack of pace, whilst his leadership compensated for his occasional lack of discipline.[6]

Later life

After retiring from the professional game, Archer became player-manager of Sandbach Ramblers and also appeared for Congleton Town before holding the managerial reins at Nantwich Town[7] from January 1982 to the end of the season.[4] He also scouted in Wales and the West Country for former club Chesterfield.[4] He also worked as a greenkeeper at Malkins Bank course, near Sandbach.[4] He also served as the President of the Wrekin Federation of Pigeon Fanciers.[4]

Archer died in December 2021, aged 80.[3][8]

Career statistics

Source:[9]

Club Season Division League FA Cup Other Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Port Vale 1959–60 Third Division 6 3 0 0 0 0 6 3
1960–61 Third Division 4 0 0 0 0 0 4 0
Total 10 3 0 0 0 0 10 3
Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic 1961–62 Third Division 42 13 1 0 3 0 46 13
1962–63 Third Division 21 4 1 0 1 0 23 4
1963–64 Third Division 11 5 1 0 3 0 15 5
1964–65 Third Division 40 11 2 0 1 0 43 11
1965–66 Third Division 25 4 4 2 2 1 31 7
Total 139 37 9 2 10 1 158 40
Crewe Alexandra 1966–67 Fourth Division 34 6 3 0 0 0 37 6
1967–68 Fourth Division 25 10 1 1 2 1 28 12
Total 59 16 4 1 2 1 65 18
Huddersfield Town 1967–68 Second Division 9 0 0 0 0 0 9 0
Chesterfield 1969–70 Fourth Division 42 12 1 0 3 1 46 13
1970–71 Third Division 45 6 3 0 1 0 49 6
1971–72 Third Division 29 6 3 0 3 1 35 7
Total 116 24 7 0 6 2 129 26
Career total 333 80 20 3 18 4 371 87

Honours

Chesterfield

References

  1. ^
    ISBN 0-9529152-0-0
    .
  2. ^ "John Archer". Barry Hugman's Footballers.
  3. ^ a b "Club mourn passing of John Archer". AFC Bournemouth. 14 December 2021. Retrieved 25 December 2021.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Sky is Blue – The Chesterfield FC history resource". Sky is Blue – The Chesterfield FC history resource. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
  5. ^ a b c d e "'Dan' Archer remembered – Chesterfield FC". chesterfield-fc.co.uk. 16 December 2021. Retrieved 29 December 2021.
  6. ^ "Sky is Blue – The Chesterfield FC history resource". Sky is Blue – The Chesterfield FC history resource. Retrieved 30 December 2021.
  7. OCLC 1199329275
    .
  8. ^ "'DAN' ARCHER REMEMBERED". Chesterfield FC. 16 December 2021. Retrieved 26 December 2021.
  9. ^ John Archer at the English National Football Archive (subscription required)
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