Norman Uprichard
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| Norman Uprichard | ||
| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full name | William Norman McCourt Uprichard | |
| Date of birth | 20 April 1928 | |
| Place of birth | Lurgan, Northern Ireland | |
| Playing position | Goalkeeper | |
| Senior clubs1 | ||
| Years | Club | App (Gls)* |
1948-1950 1950-1953 1953-1959 1959-1960 |
Glenavon Distillery Arsenal Swindon Town Portsmouth Southend United Hastings United Ramsgate Athletic |
0 (0) 73 (0) 182 (0) 12 (0) |
| National team | ||
| 1951-1958 |  Northern Ireland |
18 (0) |
|
1 Senior club appearances and goals |
||
William Norman McCourt Uprichard (b. 1928, Lurgan, Northern Ireland) was a former football player for Arsenal, Portsmouth and Swindon Town.
Contents |
[edit] Gaelic football career
As a teenager growing up in County Armagh Uprichard played both soccer and Gaelic football. He won a district minor league medal with St Peter’s GAC, but was subsequently banned by the GAA and told he would not receive his medal because he had signed for Glenavon. The GAA’s ‘rule 27’ prohibited adult members at the time from playing or watching so-called foreign games. Uprichard was finally awarded his medal in 2004.[1]
[edit] Association football career
[edit] Club career
Uprichard played in goal for Glenavon and later for Distillery before signing for Arsenal in 1948 for £1,500. He never played an Arsenal first-team game, with Ted Platt and George Swindin being higher in the pecking order. He was transferred to Swindon Town in 1950, later becoming the first choice goalkeeper.[2]
Uprichard was featured in the 2002 book Swindon Town Football Club 100 Greats by Richard (Dick) Mattick, a book that lists the 100 Swindon Town players that Mattick considered to be greatest. The 1952-53 season was his last at Swindon before his transfer to Portsmouth.
Uprichard was Eddie Lever's first signing as Pompey manager.[3] He was later followed by Derek Dougan from Distillery. Uprichard played nearly 200 first-team games for Portsmouth in seven seasons. He later played for Southend United, Hastings United and Ramsgate Athletic.
[edit] International career
Uprichard was awarded 18 senior international caps for Northern Ireland, the first coming against Scotland in 1951. He played in the 1958 World Cup Finals in Sweden alongside Billy Bingham, Jimmy McIlroy and Danny Blanchflower. Despite sustaining a broken hand and an ankle injury, he kept the Czechos-lovakia attack at bay in a play-off win which secured Northern Ireland a quarter-final berth.[4]
His final game for Northern Ireland was, like his first, against Scotland, in November 1958.
[edit] Footnotes
[edit] References
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