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Don Ratcliffe

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Don Ratcliffe
Personal information
Full name Donald Ratcliffe[1]
Date of birth (1934-11-13)13 November 1934[1]
Place of birth Newcastle-under-Lyme, England[1]
Date of death 19 October 2014(2014-10-19) (aged 79)[2]
Position(s) Winger
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1954–1963 Stoke City 238 (16)
1963–1966 Middlesbrough 65 (3)
1965–1967 Darlington 86 (12)
1967–1969 Crewe Alexandra 47 (2)
1969–1970 Northwich Victoria
1970 Bangor City
Total 436 (33)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Donald Ratcliffe (13 November 1934 – 19 October 2014) was an English footballer who played in the Football League for Crewe Alexandra, Darlington, Middlesbrough and Stoke City.[1][3]

Career

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Ratcliffe was born in Newcastle-under-Lyme and joined Stoke City in May 1953 after being recommended to the club by a local grocer who had seen him playing football in the street.[3] He made his debut at home to Bury on Christmas Day in 1954–55 and of his 11 appearances in that season six were against Bury.[3] He became the prankster of Stoke's dressing room and was a hugely popular figure amongst the players. On the pitch Ratcliffe's natural position was left wing although he played in every position bar centre half causing Stoke manager Tony Waddington to boast that Ratcliffe was the first £100,000 footballer – as they could have sold him for £10,000 for each position.[3] Under Waddington he was a regular and played in every match in 1962–63 as Stoke won the Second Division title.[3]

He fell out of favour with Waddington in the First Division and he was sold to Middlesbrough for £27,500 in September 1963.[3] Ratcliffe's time at "Boro" was not that good as he brands manager Raich Carter as 'a waste of space' which ended with Ratcliffe joining Darlington in February 1966 helping the club gain promotion in 1965–66 which was followed by an instant relegation.[3] He moved on again to Crewe Alexandra and again gained promotion from the Fourth Division and he ended his career with non-league Northwich Victoria.[3] Ratcliffe died on 19 October 2014 at the age of 79.[2]

Career statistics

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Source:[4]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season Division League FA Cup League Cup Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Stoke City 1954–55 Second Division 6 0 5 2 — 11 2
1955–56 Second Division 8 0 0 0 — 8 0
1956–57 Second Division 1 0 0 0 — 1 0
1957–58 Second Division 31 3 2 0 — 33 3
1958–59 Second Division 31 1 0 0 — 31 1
1959–60 Second Division 31 1 0 0 — 31 1
1960–61 Second Division 41 4 6 1 1 0 48 5
1961–62 Second Division 39 2 3 0 1 0 43 2
1962–63 Second Division 42 5 1 0 2 0 45 5
1963–64 First Division 8 0 0 0 1 0 9 0
Total 238 16 17 3 5 0 260 19
Middlesbrough 1963–64 Second Division 25 2 1 0 0 0 26 2
1964–65 Second Division 26 0 4 0 0 0 30 0
1965–66 Second Division 14 1 1 0 0 0 15 1
Total 65 3 6 0 0 0 71 3
Darlington 1965–66 Fourth Division 21 5 0 0 0 0 21 5
1966–67 Third Division 42 4 4 1 3 2 49 7
1967–68 Fourth Division 23 3 1 1 5 2 29 6
Total 86 12 5 1 8 4 99 16
Crewe Alexandra 1967–68 Fourth Division 20 2 0 0 0 0 20 2
1968–69 Third Division 27 0 3 0 2 0 32 0
Total 47 2 3 0 2 0 52 2
Career total 436 33 31 4 15 4 482 41

Honours

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Stoke City
Darlington
Crewe Alexandra

References

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  1. ^ a b c d Matthews, Tony (1994). The Encyclopaedia of Stoke City. Lion Press. ISBN 0-9524151-0-0.
  2. ^ a b "Don Ratcliffe". Stoke City F.C. Retrieved 21 October 2014.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Stoke City 101 Golden Greats. Desert Islands Books. 2002. ISBN 1-874287554.
  4. ^ Don Ratcliffe at the English National Football Archive (subscription required)
[edit]
  • Don Ratcliffe at Post War English & Scottish Football League A–Z Player's Transfer Database
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