Sean Haslegrave

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Sean Haslegrave
Personal information
Full name Sean Matthew Haslegrave[1]
Date of birth (1951-06-07)7 June 1951[1]
Place of birth Stoke-on-Trent, England[1]
Date of death 22 November 2019(2019-11-22) (aged 68)[2]
Height 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)[3]
Position(s) Midfielder
Youth career
1968–1970 Stoke City
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1970–1976 Stoke City 113 (5)
1976–1977 Nottingham Forest 7 (1)
1977–1981 Preston North End 113 (2)
1981–1983 Crewe Alexandra 82 (1)
1983–1987 York City 142 (0)
1987–1989 Torquay United 36 (1)
Total 493 (10)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Sean Matthew Haslegrave (7 June 1951 – 22 November 2019) was an English footballer who played in the Football League for Stoke City, Nottingham Forest, Preston North End, Crewe Alexandra, York City and Torquay United.[1]

Football career[edit]

Haslegrave was born in Stoke-on-Trent and began his career with local side Stoke City in 1968 signing on a professional contract in 1970.[1] He made his debut against Derby County in December 1970 and went on to make 22 appearances in 1970–71.[1] He played in 24 games in 1971–72 scoring twice but was restricted to six appearances in 1972–73 due to injury and on his return made 37 appearances in 1973–74.[1] In 1974–75 he played in 24 matches, in a UEFA Cup match against Ajax Haslegrave was involved with a dispute with manager Tony Waddington which led to his move to Nottingham Forest. Brian Clough who was at the time out of work was invited by Waddington to watch Stoke play in Amsterdam. With Stoke struggling to break down the resolute Ajax defence Waddington substituted Haslegrave in favour of winger Terry Conroy. A furious Haslegrave exchanged words with Waddington and pushed him. Before Haslegrave could apologise Clough stepped in to say how much he enjoyed his altercation and once he was back in management he would sign him.[4] He spent the 1975–76 season at the Victoria Ground making 29 appearances before he joined Clough at Nottingham Forest in July 1976 for a fee of £50,000.[1]

However his move to Forest did not go according to plan as injury restricted his playing time and when Forest signed Scottish international Archie Gemmill in September 1977, Haslegrave was further down the pecking order. On 29 September 1977, Haslegrave left to join Preston North End, managed by England World Cup star Nobby Stiles for a fee of £25,000. At the end of the season Preston were promoted to the Second Division with Haslegrave a regular in midfield. After two successful seasons, Preston struggled in 1980–81 and were eventually relegated on the last day of the season. Stiles was sacked soon afterwards and Haslegrave was released. Haslegrave signed for Crewe Alexandra in August 1981 and after two seasons with a struggling Crewe side moved to York City, where his former Stoke teammate Denis Smith was manager. He helped York to promotion to the Third Division, with a record points haul, and made over 150 first team appearances in four seasons.

In August 1987, Haslegrave joined a Torquay side that had just avoided relegation out of the league in the last few minutes of the previous season. However, under new manager Cyril Knowles the side was transformed and reached the Fourth Division play-offs and the Football League Trophy final at Wembley. Haslegrave began coaching at Torquay and by the time he left in 1989 had become Knowles' assistant. He was described in an autobiography by former England player Lee Sharpe, who had joined Torquay as an apprentice during Haslegrave's first season at the club, as the 'ultimate midfield terrier'.[5]

Personal life[edit]

On retiring he returned to Preston North End to coach the youth team and became Director of the club's Centre of Excellence. On leaving North End he became Head Coach at Cardinal Newman College and subsequently was also invited to coach the English Colleges side. Haslegrave held a UEFA (A) coaching badge and was a representative of Anglo-Deities United, a Lancashire-based charity which deals with the elderly. He was football coach at Cardinal Newman College in Preston and head coach of the English Colleges Team.[6] In May 2012 he walked 1,500 miles to Spain for charity.[7]

Career statistics[edit]

Source:[8]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Stoke City 1970–71 First Division 15 0 7 0 0 0 4[a] 0 26 0
1971–72 First Division 18 0 0 0 3 1 3[b] 1 24 2
1972–73 First Division 6 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 2
1973–74 First Division 27 1 1 1 4 0 5[c] 0 37 2
1974–75 First Division 19 1 0 0 3 0 2[d] 0 24 1
1975–76 First Division 28 1 0 0 1 0 — 29 1
Total 113 5 8 1 11 1 14 1 146 8
Nottingham Forest 1976–77 Second Division 7 1 0 0 0 0 6[e] 0 13 1
Preston North End 1977–78 Third Division 38 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 40 0
1978–79 Second Division 41 1 2 0 3 0 3[e] 1 49 2
1979–80 Second Division 25 0 1 0 1 0 4[e] 1 31 1
1980–81 Second Division 8 1 0 0 0 0 2[e] 0 10 1
Total 113 2 5 0 4 0 9 2 131 4
Crewe Alexandra 1981–82 Fourth Division 40 1 2 1 2 0 — 44 2
1982–83 Fourth Division 42 0 1 0 2 0 — 45 0
Total 82 1 3 1 4 0 — 89 2
York City 1983–84 Fourth Division 26 1 0 0 2 0 1[f] 0 29 1
1984–85 Third Division 42 0 6 0 4 0 2[f] 0 54 0
1985–86 Third Division 39 0 4 0 4 0 1[f] 0 48 0
1986–87 Third Division 35 0 1 0 2 0 3[f] 0 41 0
Total 142 0 11 0 12 0 7 0 172 2
Torquay United 1987–88 Fourth Division 33 1 3 0 4 0 5[g] 0 45 1
1988–89 Fourth Division 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 3 0
Total 36 1 3 0 5 0 5 0 47 1
Career Total 493 10 29 2 36 1 41 3 599 16
  1. ^ Appearances in Anglo-Italian Cup
  2. ^ Appearances in Texaco Cup
  3. ^ Two appearances in Texaco Cup and three in Watney Cup
  4. ^ Appearances in UEFA Cup
  5. ^ a b c d Appearances in Anglo-Scottish Cup
  6. ^ a b c d Appearances in Associate Members' Cup
  7. ^ Three Appearances in Associate Members' Cup and two in Fourth Division play-offs

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Matthews, Tony (1994). The Encyclopaedia of Stoke City. Lion Press. ISBN 0-9524151-0-0.
  2. ^ "Ex-Stoke City star Sean Haslegrave dies at 68". Stoke Sentinel. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
  3. ^ Dunk, Peter, ed. (1987). Rothmans Football Yearbook 1987–88. London: Queen Anne Press. p. 408. ISBN 978-0-356-14354-5.
  4. ^ "The day Cloughie helped Sean make the most of a grave situation". The Sentinel. Retrieved 15 February 2013.
  5. ^ Extract from 'My Idea of Fun', Lee Sharpe's autobiography
  6. ^ College football coach scoops England job
  7. ^ "Former player aims for 1,500-mile goal". The Sentinel. Retrieved 15 February 2013.
  8. ^ Sean Haslegrave at the English National Football Archive (subscription required)

External links[edit]

  • Sean Haslegrave at Post War English & Scottish Football League A–Z Player's Transfer Database
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