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Dave Bamber

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Dave Bamber
Personal information
Full name John David Bamber
Date of birth (1959-02-01) 1 February 1959 (age 65)
Place of birth Prescot, England
Height 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) [1]
Position(s) Forward
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1979–1983 Blackpool 81 (29)
1983–1984 Coventry City 19 (3)
1984 Walsall 20 (7)
1984 Portsmouth 4 (1)
1985 Trelleborgs FF 4 (1)
1985–1987 Swindon Town 108 (31)
1988 Watford 18 (3)
1988–1989 Stoke City 43 (8)
1989–1990 Hull City 28 (5)
1990 → Blackpool (loan) 5 (4)
1990–1994 Blackpool 108 (56)
Total 438 (148)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

John David Bamber (born 1 February 1959) is an English former professional footballer. He played for nine clubs during a fifteen-year career. Over half of his 148 goals in the Football League were scored during his three spells with Blackpool.

Career

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Born in Prescot, Lancashire, Bamber played for Leicester University and St. Helens Town in youth and junior football. Bamber began his professional career at Blackpool in 1979. His starting debut came on 29 December 1979, in a loss at Chester City. He scored his first goal for the Seasiders on 7 April 1980, in a league encounter against Carlisle United at Bloomfield Road. During the next four years of struggle, Bamber scored 36 goals in 100 games in all competitions under four different managers. Coventry City came in for his services prior to the 1983–84 season. Bamber moved to Walsall in 1984, before a short stay at Portsmouth in 1984.

In 1985, he joined Swedish side Trelleborgs FF, making just four league appearances, scoring one goal, before moving back to England to play for Swindon Town later that same year. In two years with the Robins he made 108 league appearances, scoring 31 goals.

In 1988, he joined Watford with whom he made 18 league appearances and scored three goals before moving to Stoke City later that same year. In 1989, he joined Hull City, before returning to Blackpool in 1990 to bring his fifteen-year playing career to a close. He was re-signed by the Seasiders initially on loan, in December 1990, by the departing Graham Carr, who was immediately replaced by his assistant, Billy Ayre. "I signed for Graham Carr on the Thursday and got on the coach to go down to Hereford to find out that he'd been sacked," Bamber explained in 2012.[2] "Nobody seemed to know what was going on. Billy Ayre got on the coach further down the M6." A month later, on 5 January 1991, shortly before kick-off in an FA Cup match against Tottenham Hotspur, new Seasiders manager Billy Ayre agreed to pay Hull £50,000 for Bamber.

In his second spell at Blackpool, Bamber played at Wembley twice in successive seasons (1990–91 and 1991–92), both in the play-off finals, and both of which went to penalty shoot-outs. In the first final, against Torquay United, Bamber put his spot-kick wide of Gareth Howells' left-hand post, handing promotion to the Tangerines' south-coast opponents. Following this loss, the Gulls named their fanzine Bamber's Right Foot, in mockery of the striker's miss.

The following year, however, Blackpool were victorious in the same manner against Scunthorpe United and were promoted to the new Division Two. Bamber, who played despite needing an operation on his knee (preserving his record of being an ever-present throughout the season), scored Blackpool's normal-time goal. He did not partake in the penalty shoot-out. A persistent pelvic injury forced Bamber to retire in 1994.

Blackpool F.C. Hall of Fame

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Bamber was inducted into the Hall of Fame at Bloomfield Road, when it was officially opened by former Blackpool player Jimmy Armfield in April 2006.[3] Organised by the Blackpool Supporters Association, Blackpool fans around the world voted on their all-time heroes. Five players from each decade are inducted; Bamber is in the 1990s.[4]

Post-retirement

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After retiring from football, Bamber remained in Blackpool with his family, becoming a property developer.

Career statistics

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Source:[5]

Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Other[A] Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Blackpool 1979–80 Third Division 7 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 8 1
1980–81 Third Division 15 3 0 0 0 0 2 1 17 4
1981–82 Fourth Division 38 15 5 1 2 1 3 0 48 17
1982–83 Fourth Division 26 10 2 1 4 4 0 0 32 15
Total 81 29 8 2 6 5 5 1 100 37
Coventry City 1983–84 First Division 19 3 1 0 2 1 0 0 22 4
Walsall 1983–84 Third Division 10 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 10 3
1984–85 Third Division 10 4 0 0 3 0 0 0 13 4
Total 20 7 0 0 3 0 0 0 23 7
Portsmouth 1983–84 Second Division 4 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 1
Trelleborgs FF 1985 Allsvenskan 4 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 1
Swindon Town 1985–86 Fourth Division 23 9 0 0 1 0 0 0 24 9
1986–87 Third Division 42 9 3 3 3 4 10 4 58 20
1987–88 Second Division 41 13 3 2 6 3 5 0 55 18
Total 106 31 6 5 10 7 15 4 137 47
Watford 1988–89 Second Division 18 3 0 0 2 1 2 0 22 4
Stoke City 1988–89 Second Division 23 6 3 2 0 0 0 0 26 8
1989–90 Second Division 20 2 0 0 2 0 1 1 23 3
Total 43 8 3 2 2 0 1 1 49 11
Hull City 1989–90 Second Division 19 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 19 3
1990–91 Second Division 9 2 0 0 2 0 0 0 11 2
Total 28 5 0 0 2 0 0 0 30 5
Blackpool 1990–91 Fourth Division 23 17 1 0 0 0 4 0 28 17
1991–92 Fourth Division 42 26 2 1 4 6 5 2 53 35
1992–93 Second Division 24 13 0 0 0 0 1 0 25 13
1993–94 Second Division 22 4 0 0 3 3 1 0 26 7
1994–95 Second Division 2 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 4 0
Total 113 60 3 1 9 9 11 2 136 72
Career Total 436 148 21 10 36 23 34 8 527 189
A. ^ The "Other" column constitutes appearances and goals in the Anglo-Scottish Cup, Football League Group Cup, Football League play-offs, Football League Trophy and Full Members Cup.

Honours

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Swindon Town

Blackpool

Individual

References

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  1. ^ Rollin, Jack, ed. (1980). Rothmans Football Yearbook 1980–81. London: Queen Anne Press. p. 70. ISBN 0362020175.
  2. ^ "Billy Ayre: Blackpool to honour promotion-winning boss" – BBC Sport, 2 October 2012
  3. ^ Singleton, Steve, ed. (2007). Legends: The great players of Blackpool FC (1 ed.). Blackpool: Blackpool Gazette. pp. 106–109. ISBN 978-1-84547-182-8.
  4. ^ "The Hall of Fame – 1980's". Blackpool Supporters Association. Archived from the original on 10 June 2010. Retrieved 2 December 2009.
  5. ^ Dave Bamber at the English National Football Archive (subscription required)
  6. ^ Lynch. The Official P.F.A. Footballers Heroes. p. 149.

Further reading

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