Rod Belfitt

Rod Belfitt
Personnel
Surname	Roderick Michael Belfitt
birthday	October 30, 1945
place of birth	Doncaster ,  England
position	Center Forward
Juniors
Years	station
	Doncaster United
	Retford Town
Men's
Years	station	Games (goals) 1
1963-1971	Leeds United	75 (17)
1971-1972	Ipswich Town	40 (13)
1972-1973	Everton FC	16 0(2)
1973-1975	Sunderland AFC	39 0(4)
1974-1975	→  Fulham FC  (loan)	6 0(1)
1975-1976	Huddersfield Town	34 0(8)
1 Only league games are given.

Roderick Michael "Rod" Belfitt (born October 30, 1945 in Doncaster ) is a former English football player . The center-forward was mostly overshadowed by Alan Peacock , Jim Storrie , Jimmy Greenhoff , Mick Jones and Allan Clarke at Leeds United during the 1960s . He made the greatest contribution in 1967 when he reached the finals in the trade fair trophy . In the following year he was substituted on both in the 1-0 final win in the league cup against Arsenal and in the final first leg of the 1968 trade fair cup (1-0, second leg 0-0).

Athletic career

Belfitt was born in England, but followed his parents to South Africa and India in the post-war period before the family settled for good in the Doncaster area. There Belfitt also attended Doncaster Technical College and trained as a draftsman. He took his first footballing steps as an amateur for Doncaster United and Retford Town before signing his first professional contract with second division Leeds United in July 1963 .

The striker did not belong in the aftermath mostly to the regular players in the team of Don Revie and after the rise in 1964 , he came in the season 1964/65 to eight appearances in the A-team. Although he scored four goals straight away, he was only left with the role of substitute player. He shared this “fate” with Jimmy Greenhoff for years and both often only came on through substitutions or as a substitute for Alan Peacock or Jim Storrie . His best appearance in the Leeds jersey was the 1967 semi-final first leg in the trade fair cup when he scored a hat-trick against FC Kilmarnock (4-2, second leg 0-0). He was also in the starting line-up in the two final games against Dinamo Zagreb , but with 0-2 and 0-0 he finally missed winning the title. With the up-and-coming Mick Jones and Greenhoff, a new storm duo established itself in the period that followed. Belfitt's role remained unchanged before the arrival of Allan Clarke made his perspective even worse. When Leeds defeated Arsenal 1-0 in the league cup final in March 1968 , he was at least a substitute for Eddie Gray . In August of the same year he was substituted on for goal scorer Jones in the final first leg of the trade fair cup in the second half against Ferencváros Budapest (1-0, second leg 0-0). To win the English championship in 1969 , he contributed three hits in eight games when Revie was either plagued by injury concerns or the schedule was so tight that the regulars needed a break. At the beginning of the 1971/72 season he represented the failed Jones for almost two months before he said goodbye to first division competitor Ipswich Town in November 1971 . The transfer fee was £ 55,000.

As early as November 6, 1971 Belfitt made his debut at home in Portman Road against Wolverhampton Wanderers and in just under a year he scored a total of thirteen goals in 40 league encounters. There were also three goals in six cup games and after a last appearance on October 28, 1972 at Everton , he already moved on. In the game against Everton, which ended in a 2-2 draw, Belfitt had scored again and the opposing coach Harry Catterick was so impressed that he agreed to a swap deal with David Johnson shortly afterwards . The transfer, which took place on Belfitt's 30th birthday, was valued at £ 30,000.

After his debut a short time later and the first goal in the second competitive game against Manchester City (2: 3), the time for Belfitt in Everton was very unlucky. The team was in a downward spiral and the strikers in particular often performed poorly. Belfitt's self-confidence quickly deteriorated and in an atmosphere in which his own fans often responded with expressions of displeasure, he struggled in almost every game in vain. To make matters worse, the emigrated Johnson developed into a goalscorer in Ipswich. Belfitt's adventure ended in October 1973 and he moved to the second division AFC Sunderland for 70,000 pounds in October 1973 .

Also in Sunderland, Belfitt only scored four goals in 39 league appearances and in November 1974 the club loaned him to Fulham FC for a few months . After his departure from Sunderland in February 1975, Belfitt let his active professional career end with the third division club Huddersfield Town . There he scored another eight goals in the 1975/76 season. Afterwards he only went to the sport as an amateur for clubs like Worksop Town , Frickley Colliery and later at the side of his former Leeds teammate Mick Bates for Bentley Victoria . At the same time, he initially worked for ten years in what he had learned to be a draftsman, before moving into financial consulting. He continued this job until his retirement in 2001.

Title / Awards

• Fair Cup (1): 1968
• English League Cup (1): 1968

Web links

• Profile at ozwhitelufc.net.au
• Statistical data from the Post War English & Scottish Football League AZ Player's Database

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} In contrast to the information mostly used in print media, Bournemouth is often given as the place of birth in online sources .
2. ↑ The reference work by Barry J. Hugman (Player's Records 1946-92) for the pre-Premier League period gives the first name as "Rodney". However, this cannot be confirmed on the basis of the predominant information in literature sources.