Bill_Glazier
Bill Glazier
English footballer
William James Glazier (born 2 August 1943) is an English retired professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He is best remembered for his time in the Football League with Coventry City, for whom he made over 390 appearances and is a member of the club's Hall of Fame. He was capped by England at U23 level and represented the Football League XI.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | William James Glazier[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1943-08-02) 2 August 1943 (age 80) | ||
| Place of birth | Nottingham, England | ||
| Position(s) | Goalkeeper | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 0000–1961 | Crystal Palace | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1961–1964 | Crystal Palace | 106 | (0) |
| 1964–1975 | Coventry City | 346 | (0) |
| 1975 | Brentford | 9 | (0) |
| 1977 | St. Louis Stars | 0 | (0) |
| Total | 461 | (0) | |
| International career | |||
| 1964–1965 | England U23 | 3 | (0) |
| 1970 | Football League XI | 1 | (0) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Early years
Glazier's involvement in football began with a spell as a member of the ground staff at Third Division club Torquay United, before he was released due to lack of funds.[2]
Crystal Palace
In October 1961, Glazier joined Third Division club Crystal Palace on trial, which was arranged by virtue of his family's bread delivery man being a personal friend of Palace captain Johnny McNichol.[2] Glazier was signed on the strength of his performance for the Palace 'A' team in a match versus Dover.[2] He quickly displaced Vic Rouse as first-choice goalkeeper and was an ever-present during the 1963–64 season, in which the club secured promotion to the Second Division with a runners-up finish.[3][4] Glazier departed Selhurst Park in October 1964, after making 113 appearances for Palace.[5]
Coventry City
In October 1964, the manager of Second Division club Coventry City, Jimmy Hill, signed Glazier for a then world-record fee for a goalkeeper of £35,000.[3] Glazier suffered a broken leg in a match versus Manchester City in April 1965, which kept him out of the game for a year.[2] He returned to play in the Coventry team which won the Second Division title in the 1966–67 season.[3] Now playing in the First Division, Glazier continued as the club's first-choice goalkeeper until August 1975.[6] He was awarded a testimonial in November 1974 versus an England 1966 World Cup XI, with Glazier scoring twice in a 6–6 draw.[2] Glazier made 392 appearances in 11 years at Highfield Road.[6] He twice won the Coventry City Player of the Year award (1968–69 and 1973–74) and was inducted into the club's Hall of Fame.[7][8]
Brentford
Glazier dropped down to the Fourth Division to sign for Brentford for a £12,500 fee in August 1975.[1] The move was helped along by Jimmy Hill (by now working as a broadcaster), who put Glazier in touch with Brentford manager John Docherty, who had been looking for a goalkeeper after loanee Steve Sherwood returned to Chelsea.[2] Business interests and problems commuting from his Brighton home meant that Glazier couldn't give his full commitment to the Bees and he left the club after making just 12 appearances.[1]
St. Louis Stars
Glazier ended his career with a spell at North American Soccer League club St. Louis Stars in 1977.[9]
Glazier won three caps for the England U23 team and kept a clean sheet in each match.[10] One of Glazier's caps came against Romania at Highfield Road (home of his then-club side Coventry City) drew a crowd of 27,476, one of the highest attendances for an U23 match in England.[2] A broken leg suffered with Coventry City in 1965 cut short Glazier's international career, as he was over the age-limit after returning to fitness.[2] In March 1970, Glazer played for the Football League in a 3–2 win over its Scottish counterparts.[11]
Early in his career, Glazier lived in Brighton, where his parents ran a guesthouse.[2] After retiring from football, Glazier ran a hotel in Brighton before moving to Spain for 12 years,[2] where he worked in swimming pool maintenance.[12] He returned to the UK in 1998 and settled in Lincolnshire, where he began a catering business with his wife.[2]
Crystal Palace
- Football League Third Division second-place promotion (1): 1963–64[3][4]
Coventry City
Individual
- Coventry City Player of the Year (2): 1968–69, 1973–74[7]
- Coventry City Hall of Fame[8]
| Club | Season | League | FA Cup | League Cup | Europe | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Coventry City | 1964–65[6] | Second Division | 24 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 25 | 0 | |
| 1965–66[6] | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 7 | 0 | |||
| 1966–67[6] | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 4 | 0 | |||
| 1967–68[6] | First Division | 40 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 43 | 0 | ||
| 1968–69[6] | 42 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 0 | — | 49 | 0 | |||
| 1969–70[6] | 40 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 43 | 0 | |||
| 1970–71[6] | 40 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 3[lower-alpha 1] | 0 | 49 | 0 | ||
| 1971–72[6] | 37 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 40 | 0 | |||
| 1972–73[6] | 28 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 34 | 0 | |||
| 1973–74[6] | 40 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 6 | 0 | — | 52 | 0 | |||
| 1974–75[6] | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 8 | 0 | |||
| Total | 346 | 0 | 21 | 0 | 22 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 392 | 0 | ||
| Brentford | 1975–76[13] | Fourth Division | 9 | 0 | — | 3 | 0 | — | 12 | 0 | ||
| Career total | 355 | 0 | 21 | 0 | 25 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 404 | 0 | ||
- Appearances in Inter-Cities Fairs Cup
- Haynes, Graham; Coumbe, Frank (2006). Timeless Bees: Brentford F.C. Who's Who 1920–2006. Yore Publications. p. 66. ISBN 978-0955294914.
- Brentford Official Matchday Magazine versus Plymouth Argyle. Blackheath: Morganprint. 5 April 1999. p. 19.
- Mike Purkiss & Nigel Sands (1990). Crystal Palace: A Complete Record 1905–1989. p. 73. ISBN 0907969542.
- Crystal Palace F.C. at the Football Club History Database
- "Appearances". cpfc.co.uk. Retrieved 20 January 2015.
- "Bill Glazier". 11v11.com. Retrieved 20 January 2015.
- "My Football Facts & Stats | Premier League | Coventry City Player of the Year". www.myfootballfacts.com. Retrieved 2 November 2016.
- "Coventry City | Club | History | History | Hall of Fame". 22 July 2012. Archived from the original on 22 July 2012. Retrieved 22 August 2015.
- "England Matches – Under-23's". www.englandfootballonline.com. Retrieved 2 November 2016.
- "Bill Glazier". 11v11.com. Retrieved 22 June 2020.
- "Where are they now? No.2". holmesdale.net. 16 July 2002. Retrieved 11 October 2014.
- White, Eric, ed. (1989). 100 Years Of Brentford. Brentford FC. p. 393. ISBN 0951526200.
- Bill Glazier at Post War English & Scottish Football League A–Z Player's Transfer Database