Roy Summersby

Roy Summersby
Personal information
Full name Roy Donald Summersby[1]
Date of birth (1935-03-19)19 March 1935
Place of birth Lambeth, Greater London
Date of death 7 August 2016(2016-08-07) (aged 81)
Place of death Bury St Edmunds, England
Position(s) Inside forward
Youth career
?–1952 Millwall
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1951–1958 Millwall 87 (13)
1958–1963 Crystal Palace 176 (59)
1963–1965 Portsmouth 12 (1)
1965–? Chelmsford City ? (?)
? Hillingdon Borough ? (?)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Roy Donald Summersby (19 March 1935 – 7 August 2016)[2][1] was an English professional footballer who played as an inside forward.[3] He appeared 275 times in the English Football League for Millwall, Crystal Palace, and Portsmouth, before moving into non-league football with Chelmsford City and Hillingdon Borough.[3]

Playing career

Summersby began his playing career at Millwall, initially as a junior before signing as a professional in March 1952, but did not fully establish himself in the first team until 1957.[3] In December 1958,[2] he signed for Crystal Palace then playing in the Fourth Division in its inaugural season. He quickly became a first team regular and put together a sequence of 126 consecutive appearances, many of them alongside Johnny Byrne.[3] In October 1959, Summersby scored four goals in Crystal Palace's biggest-ever league win; a 9–0 home victory over Barrow.[4]

In the 1960–61 season, Palace achieved promotion to the third tier and Summersby was ever present, making 46 appearances, scoring 25 goals,[5] which is still (as of September 2014) the fourth highest seasonal goals total in Crystal Palace Post-War history. Only Byrne the same season (30), Andrew Johnson in 2003–04 (28) and Glenn Murray in 2012–13 (30) have scored more goals.[6] The next season, Summersby made 42 appearances, scoring eight times,[7] but in 1962–63 only appeared 17 times (in the first half of the season) and scored twice.[8] At the end of that season, in May 1963, he transferred to Portsmouth, rejoining former Palace manager George Smith.[3] However, after only 12 games for Portsmouth, over two seasons,[9] Summersby moved on to non–league football with Chelmsford City and later Hillingdon Borough.[3]

Summersby died on 7 August 2016, in Bury St Edmunds, aged 81.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c "Roy Summersby". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 27 December 2017.
  2. ^ a b Purkiss, Mike; Sands, Nigel (1989). Crystal Palace: A Complete Record 1905–1989. p. 340. ISBN 0907969542.
  3. ^ a b c d e f Purkiss, Mike; Sands, Nigel (1989). Crystal Palace: A Complete Record 1905–1989. p. 88. ISBN 0907969542.
  4. ^ "60 years today: Palace record biggest ever win". CPFC. 10 October 2019. Retrieved 13 October 2019.
  5. ^ Purkiss, Mike; Sands, Nigel (1990). Crystal Palace: A Complete Record 1905–1989. p. 215. ISBN 0907969542.
  6. ^ Ian King (April 2012). Crystal Palace: A Complete Record 1905–2011. p. 182. ISBN 9781780910468.
  7. ^ Purkiss, Mike; Sands, Nigel (1990). Crystal Palace: A Complete Record 1905–1989. p. 217. ISBN 0907969542.
  8. ^ Purkiss, Mike; Sands, Nigel. Crystal Palace: A Complete Record 1905–1989. p. 219. ISBN 0907969542.
  9. ^ "Roy Summersby - 12 Games". pompeyrama.com. Retrieved 12 August 2017.