Derek Statham

Derek Statham

Personal information
Full name	Derek James Statham[1]
Date of birth	24 March 1959[1]
Place of birth	Wolverhampton, England[1]
Playing position	Full-back
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1977–1987	West Bromwich Albion	299	(8)
1987–1989	Southampton	64	(2)
1989–1991	Stoke City	41	(1)
1991–1993	Walsall	50	(0)
1993–1994	Telford United	34	(0)
Total		488	(11)
National team
1977–1982	England U21	6	(0)
1983	England	3	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.

Derek James Statham (born 24 March 1959) is an English former footballer who played at defensive left-back. He played for West Bromwich Albion, Southampton, Walsall and Stoke City.^[1]

Statham won three international caps for England in 1983 under the management of Bobby Robson.

Career

Statham was born in Wolverhampton and began his career with West Bromwich Albion where he earned a reputation as a solid, classy defender with excellent passing ability. He made over 330 league and cup appearances for West Brom, playing for several years alongside Bryan Robson and the 'Three Degrees' of Cyrille Regis, Laurie Cunningham and Brendon Batson in an impressive side assembled by Ron Atkinson.^[2] In total Statham spent 12 years at the Hawthorns making 373 appearances for the club, scoring 11 goals in all competitions.

Statham left West Brom for Southampton in 1987, playing alongside a young Alan Shearer (in his first professional season) and Matthew Le Tissier, and was an immediate success winning the club's player of the season award for 1987–88. He stayed at Southampton for the 1988–89 season before joining Stoke City in August 1989.^[1] He played 21 times for Stoke in 1989–90 as the team suffered relegation to the Third Division. He played in 28 games in 1990–91 before being released at the end of the season.^[1]

He later played for Walsall, where he played his final professional game in the 1992–93 season. His last team were semi-professional side Telford United in the English Football Conference, where he was a mainstay for the 1993–94 season.

In 2004 he was named as one of West Bromwich Albion's 16 greatest ever players, in a poll organised as part of the club's 125th anniversary celebrations.^[3]

Career statistics

• Sourced from Derek Statham profile at the English National Football Archive (subscription required)

Club	Season	League			FA Cup		League Cup		Other^[A]		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
West Bromwich Albion	1976–77	First Division	16	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	16	1
	1977–78	First Division	40	0	6	0	3	0	0	0	49	0
	1978–79	First Division	39	1	6	0	3	0	8	0	56	1
	1979–80	First Division	16	0	2	0	5	0	2	0	25	0
	1980–81	First Division	31	0	0	0	4	0	0	0	35	0
	1981–82	First Division	35	0	5	1	8	1	2	0	50	2
	1982–83	First Division	32	2	2	0	1	0	0	0	35	2
	1983–84	First Division	16	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	17	0
	1984–85	First Division	30	4	1	0	4	0	0	0	35	4
	1985–86	First Division	37	0	2	1	6	0	2	0	47	1
	1986–87	Second Division	6	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	7	0
	1987–88	Second Division	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
	Total		299	8	26	2	34	1	14	0	373	11
Southampton	1987–88	First Division	38	0	2	0	2	1	1	0	41	1
	1988–89	First Division	26	2	2	1	5	0	2	0	35	3
	Total		64	2	4	1	7	1	3	0	76	4
Stoke City	1989–90	Second Division	19	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	21	0
	1990–91	Third Division	22	1	3	0	3	0	0	0	28	1
	Total		41	1	3	0	5	0	0	0	49	1
Walsall	1991–92	Fourth Division	29	0	0	0	2	0	2	0	33	0
	1992–93	Third Division	21	0	0	0	3	0	3	0	27	0
	Total		50	0	0	0	5	0	5	0	60	0
Career Total			454	11	33	3	51	2	22	0	560	16

A. ^ The "Other" column constitutes appearances and goals in the Football League Trophy, Full Members Cup, and UEFA Cup.

References

1. Matthews, Tony (1994). The Encyclopaedia of Stoke City. Lion Press. ISBN 0-9524151-0-0.
2. "Albion legends – Derek Statham". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 9 May 2013.
3. "The wraps come off 125th anniversary mural". West Bromwich Albion F.C. 4 August 2004. Retrieved 10 May 2008.

External links

• Derek Statham England profile at Englandstats