Peter Atkinson (football player, 1929)

Peter Atkinson
Personnel
Surname	Peter Maurice Carl Atkinson
birthday	September 20, 1929
place of birth	Spilsby ,  England
date of death	January 29, 2000
Place of death	Leatherhead ,  England
position	goal
Men's
Years	station	Games (goals) 1
	Walsall YMCA
1948-1952	Walsall FC	2 (0)
1950-1951	→  AFC Llanelly  (loan)
1 Only league games are given.

Peter Maurice Carl Atkinson (born September 20, 1929 in Spilsby , † January 29, 2000 in Leatherhead ) was an English football player .

Career

Atkinson from Lincoln came to Walsall for professional reasons and initially joined the local YMCA football club; around 1948 he joined FC Walsall as an amateur . Atkinson initially played for the reserve team in the Birmingham Combination and was praised by the local press for his performance as a "main attraction" and "simply outstanding" on the occasion of a game at Banbury Spencer . After he was promoted to professional in 1949, Atkinson made his surprise debut on April 22, 1950 in an away game against Reading FC in the Third Division South , when he replaced goalkeeper Jack Lewis in a 1-1 draw.

For the 1950/51 season Atkinson was loaned to the Welsh Southern League newcomer AFC Llanelly , as he was there for professional reasons. Llanelly had also strengthened himself with other professionals such as Arthur Taylor , Dougie Wallace and Jock Stein , where he probably lost his place in goal after two mistakes in a 5-5 draw in a game of the FA Cup against Merthyr Tydfil in mid-October 1950 and came therefore a month later in the main round of the competition in the three games against the Bristol Rovers not used.

In late 1951 Atkinson played his second and last competitive game for the first team of Walsall. At this point he was working as a surveyor in Swansea and was appearing as a part-time professional for Walsall's reserve team. With Lewis, the club had only one professional goalkeeper in their squad; when he injured himself on December 25th, Atkinson was supposed to be used on Boxing Day . Since Atkinson was unable to arrive at such short notice, Walsall had to put field player Billy Green in goal for the game at Southend United (final score 0: 3). Atkinson was then available for the following game on December 29, the team already standing in the table cellar lost the away game at Norwich City 8-0 (five goals from Roy Hollis ). Despite the clear defeat, Atkinson's performance was praised by the press and applauded by the home fans. Atkinson should have been used again at Easter 1952; as he was once again indispensable, Gordon Chilvers made his professional debut instead . Therefore, the game against Norwich was his last appearance in the Football League , Walsall finished last in the table at the end of the season.

Individual evidence

1. ^ Peter Atkinson in the database of barryhugmansfootballers.com (English). Retrieved August 16, 2020.
2. ↑ ^{a b} Peter's big chance . In: Sports Argus , April 22, 1950, p. 4.  (link subject to charge)
3. ↑ SPENCER STAGE A "SWIM" BACK . In: Banbury Guardian , November 10, 1949, p. 7.  (paid link)
4. ↑ SPENCER STRIKE WINNING FORM . In: Banbury Advertiser , November 9, 1949, p. 7.  (link subject to charge)
5. ^ Player on loan . In: Daily Herald , June 30, 1950, p. 6.  (paid link)
6. ↑ Ambitious Llanelly . In: Sports Argus , September 16, 1950, p. 4.  (link subject to charge)
7. ^ Llanelly-Merthyr draw in thrill packed game . In: Western Mail , October 16, 1950, p. 4.  (link subject to charge)
8. ^ Llanelly put Merthyr out of FA Cup . In: Western Mail , October 20, 1950, p. 5.  (link subject to charge)
9. ↑ ^{a b} So Saddlers had to call on Billy Green… . In: Sports Argus , December 29, 1951, p. 4.  (link subject to charge)
10. ^ Walsall v Dudley Town . In: Sports Argus , November 24, 1951, p. 5.  (link subject to charge)
11. ↑ Disheartening… . In: Sports Argus , January 5, 1952, p. 4.  (link subject to charge)
12. ↑ Walsall hit a goalstorm . In: Birmingham Daily Gazette , December 31, 1951, p. 6.  (paid link)
13. ↑ Unexpected pleasure . In: Sports Argus , April 19, 1952, p. 4.  (link with costs)