Full name Colin Hayward Gibson Name Colin Gibson | Place of birth Normanby, England | |
Date of birth (1923-09-16)16 September 1923 Date of death 27 March 1992(1992-03-27) (aged 68) | ||
Place of death Stourbridge, England Playing position | ||
Colin Hayward Gibson (16 August 1923 – 27 March 1992) was an English footballer who scored 57 goals from 288 appearances in the Football League playing for Cardiff City, Newcastle United, Aston Villa and Lincoln City. He played as an outside or inside right.
Life and career
Gibson was born in Normanby, near Middlesbrough in Yorkshire. His father moved to south Wales to work in the docks, and Gibson was spotted by Cardiff City playing football for a local team in Penarth. He assisted Cardiff City to the Third Division South title in 1946–47, before joining Newcastle United, newly promoted to the First Division, in the 1948 close season for a £15,000 fee. Despite rarely missing a game, Gibson was one of eleven players "considered redundant" in January 1949, and despite interest from Arsenal – manager Tom Whittaker said that "Arsenal are always on the look-out for real footballers like Gibson" – he signed for Aston Villa for £17,500.
He played for Villa for seven years, during which time he was capped for the Football League representative team against the League of Ireland XI in May 1949 in a 5–0 win. and received his first recognition for England, at "B" international level, a few days later against the Netherlands A team, in a 4–0 win. He signed for Lincoln City of the Second Division for a £6,000 fee in 1956, and a year later moved into non-league football with Stourbridge, where he ended his career. He later kept pubs in the area including the Spencers Arms in Hagley (now the Wychbury Inn), the Barley Mow in Wollaston (now gone) and the Royal Exchange in Stourbridge High St (now the Cock and Bull). He was well known for his piano playing in his pubs.
Gibson died in Stourbridge, Worcestershire, in 1992.