Ivor Allchurch

Ivor Allchurch
Statue of Ivor Allchurch in front of Liberty Stadium in Swansea
Personnel
Surname	Ivor John Allchurch
birthday	October 16, 1929
place of birth	Swansea ,  Wales
date of death	July 10, 1997
Place of death	Swansea ,  Wales
size	178 cm
position	striker
Men's
Years	station	Games (goals) 1
1948-1949	Shrewsbury Town	11 00(1)
1949-1958	Swansea Town	330 (124)
1958–1962	Newcastle United	143 0(46)
1962-1965	Cardiff City	103 0(39)
1965-1968	Swansea Town	118 0(40)
1968-1969	Worcester City	(10)
	Haverfordwest County AFC
National team
Years	selection	Games (goals)
1950-1966	Wales	68 0(24)
1 Only league games are given.

Ivor John Allchurch (born October 16, 1929 in Swansea , Wales ; † July 10, 1997 ibid) was a Welsh football player and was best known for his appearances in the Welsh national team at the 1958 World Cup in Sweden . In his homeland he was known as the "Golden Boy" of Welsh football.

Athletic career

The tall striker was discovered by former Swansea Town (now Swansea City) player Joe Sykes. In May 1947 Allchurch joined the "Swans", although he still had to do his military service and therefore only came to his first appearances in the professional team of the club in the second-rate Second Division on Christmas days in 1949 . Already in one of his first appearances, he impressed in an FA Cup game against Arsenal and fueled speculation early on about a move to a top club. Due to his strengths, which in addition to the danger of scoring - in his position as a slightly lagging striker - could also be found in the passing game, he quickly became one of the most important players on his team and also made his first international match for Wales against England in 1951 . There too, Allchurch, who shot equally with both feet, immediately became a top performer.

In Swansea, he spent many years at the second-rate club, which was later joined by his brother Len (who would later follow in the national team). Although there were numerous offers for a change to the First Division , including the very specific offer in 1952 by Wolverhampton Wanderers , at a time when Swansea was struggling with financial problems, a transfer never materialized. The hope to instead move up to the elite league with the Welsh club failed mostly because the team defense was always much weaker than the offensive force.

When more and more young talents left the Swans, Allchurch also moved to Newcastle United after 124 goals in 330 championship games - shortly after taking part in the World Cup tournament in Sweden - in October 1958 for 28,000 British pounds . At the World Cup, he had led his country to the quarter-finals of the tournament and scored two goals on the way, including a goal to win the 2-1 win against the then reigning vice world champions Hungary in the play-off of the preliminary round. In the round of the last eight teams, the eventual world champions from Brazil had to be beaten just 0: 1 . This “now-or-never” decision to move to Newcastle was subsequently viewed by many experts as too late and, given his talent, talked about the possible loss of a world star.

In Newcastle, Allchurch quickly became a crowd-pleaser, but was unable to win a title during his time there until 1962 - despite scoring 46 goals in 143 championship games - before moving back to the Second Division in August 1965 for just £ 15,000 and joined the Welsh club Cardiff City . His national team career spanning a total of 15 years ended in 1966 with 24 goals in 68 games, making him the record national player in his country until 1986. After three years in Cardiff, he returned to Swansea and played again at his home club, although this now only played in the third-rate third division .

In 1968 Allchurch finished his second engagement in Swansea and played for many years in the amateur field. After a short time at Worcester City, he was player-coach at Haverfordwest County and then acted at Pontardawe Athletic. Only at the age of 50 did he finally end his footballing career.

Others

• Because of his services to football, Allchurch was awarded the Order of the British Empire in 1966 as a "Member of the British Empire" (MBE).
• Allchurch is a member of the Welsh Hall of Fame .
• A statue was erected in his honor, which was erected in front of Liberty Stadium (Swansea City's home stadium).