Gary Talbot

Gary Talbot
Personnel
birthday	December 15, 1937
place of birth	Blackburn ,  England
date of death	22nd December 2019
Place of death	Chester ,  England
position	Storm
Men's
Years	station	Games (goals) 1
1963-1967	Chester FC	111 (61)
1967-1968	Crewe Alexandra	35 (20)
1968-1969	Chester FC	43 (22)
	Drumcondra FC
1 Only league games are given.

Gary Talbot (born December 15, 1937 in Blackburn , † December 22, 2019 in Chester ) was an English football player . The striker scored 103 goals in 189 fourth division games in the 1960s and is one of the most successful goalscorers in Chester City's history .

Career

Talbot played on the reserve teams of the Blackburn Rovers and Preston North End , but it wasn't until his participation in a charity game in Blackpool in the summer of 1963, which was also attended by Peter Hauser , the newly appointed coach of Chester FC , that his breakthrough ensured. He was invited to trial training by Hauser and convinced in a test match against Tranmere Rovers before signing a contract as a part-time professional.

Talbot scored on his fourth division league debut against Newport County and two days later against AFC Barrow two more goals. At the end of the season he was with 23 goals in 32 league appearances, including a four-pack against Carlisle United , top scorer of his team, a performance that he repeated in the following season 1964/65 with 28 league goals . He also went into the club annals as part of the "Famous Five" when the five offensive players Jimmy Humes , Mickey Metcalf , Elfed Morris , Hugh Ryden and Talbot each scored more than 20 competitive goals during the season . With 119 league goals they set up the season's best value of the Football League teams, but in the final table it was only eighth place in the table. Talbot also secured a contract as a full-time professional that season and also a place in the record books: in a 5-0 win in the FA Cup over Crewe Alexandra , he scored a hat trick between the 86th and 89th minutes within two minutes and 57 seconds , the fastest in the history of the cup competition.

The following two seasons he was used less often, also due to injuries, his goal scoring remained in the single digits. In 1967 he left Chester after contract disputes and moved to local rivals and league rivals Crewe Alexandra , where he had his share in reaching fourth place in the table and the associated third division rise in the 1967/68 season with 20 league goals in 35 missions. However, Talbot returned to Chester for free after this season and was successful as a goalscorer 22 times in 43 league games in the 1968/69 season , making him the league's most successful scorer. The club was on the promotion ranks until the end of March, but nine defeats in the last eleven games ensured that they were passed to midfield.

At the end of the season, Talbot declared his career over, besides sporting reasons (he himself said in a newspaper interview “Although I scored goals, I know that I didn't play well”), there were also professional reasons, such as his freelance work as a photographer increasingly required more time. The decision was not surprising, as he had announced his retirement for the first time in November 1964. His 83 league goals (a total of 106 competitive game goals) were a club record for a long time, only Stuart Rimmer surpassed him in the 1990s.

Talbot stayed with Chester FC even after his career. He was appointed president for life at the successor club of the same name , and the stadium's visitor lounge has been named Gary Talbot Legends Lounge in his honor since July 2019 . Talbot was a regular guest at Deva Stadium and was president of the Chester Former Players' Association . As a member of the Chester Round Table , he was appointed to a British round table selection for a football game against the French association in 1971. He was also a regular guest at charity games and occasionally appeared for the amateur club Chester Nomads .

In addition to his footballing career, Talbot, like his father before, was a successful photographer. First as a press photographer for the Lancashire Evening Post and the Daily Mail , later in portrait photography . He was the official photographer for Everton FC and also photographed Chester FC during and after his career.

Talbot - who had been a smoker for decades, including during his footballing career - suffered from a chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in the last years of his life . In April 2019, he was also diagnosed with lung cancer, which he succumbed to a few days after his 82nd birthday in December 2019 at the Countess of Chester Hospital . He left behind his wife and two children.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ barryhugmansfootballers.com: Profile Gary Talbot , accessed June 29, 2020
2. ↑ ^{a b} cheshire-live.co.uk. Chester FC legend Gary Talbot has died after losing lung cancer battle (December 22, 2019) , accessed on December 22, 2019
3. ↑ GARY TALBOT DECIDES TO STICK TO SOCCER . In: Cheshire Observer , November 27, 1964, p. 3.  (paid link)
4. ↑ ^{a b c} cheshire-live.co.uk: Memorial service for Chester FC legend Gary Talbot (December 27, 2019) , accessed December 29, 2019
5. ↑ AGREEMENT . In: Cheshire Observer , May 31, 1968, p. 3.  (paid link)
6. ↑ GARY TALBOT TO HANG UP HIS BOOTS . In: Cheshire Observer , April 25, 1969, p. 3.  (paid link)
7. ↑ GARY TALBOT'S RETIREMENT SHOCK FOR CHESTER FANS . In: Cheshire Observer , November 20, 1964, p. 3.  (paid link)
8. ↑ chesterfc.com: BREAKING | Introducing the Gary Talbot Legends Lounge! (July 5, 2019) , accessed December 22, 2019
9. ↑ chesterfc.com: OBITUARY | Gary Talbot - 1937-2019 (Dec 22, 2019) , accessed December 28, 2019
10. ^ Gary Talbot to play for Britain . In: Liverpool Echo , May 24, 1971, p. 3.  (paid link)
11. ↑ cheshire-live.co.uk: Chester FC legend Gary Talbot battling lung cancer (September 4, 2019) , accessed December 22, 2019