Bert Llewellyn
Personal information
Full name Herbert Arthur Llewellyn[1]
Date of birth (1939-02-05)5 February 1939[1]
Place of birth Golborne, Lancashire, England[1]
Date of death 8 September 2016(2016-09-08) (aged 77)[2][3]
Height 5 ft 4 in (1.63 m)[4]
Position(s) Centre-forward
Youth career
Everton
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1956–1958 Everton 11 (2)
1958–1960 Crewe Alexandra 96 (47)
1960–1963 Port Vale 88 (42)
1963 Northampton Town 1 (0)
1964–1965 Walsall 17 (6)
1965–1968 Wigan Athletic 115 (96)
Total 327 (192)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Herbert Arthur Llewellyn (5 February 1939 – 8 September 2016) was an English footballer. A centre-forward, he scored 114 goals in 239 league and cup appearances in a nine-year career in the Football League.

He began his career at Everton in May 1956, and played eleven top-flight games before moving on to Crewe Alexandra in July 1958. He proved a prolific signing, hitting 51 goals in 96 league games, before he was sold on to Port Vale for a £7,000 fee in November 1960. He was sold to Northampton Town for £7,000 in February 1963, but soon found himself without a club after breaking his leg 11 minutes into his "Cobblers" debut. He returned to the game with Walsall in February 1964, before he signed with Cheshire County League side Wigan Athletic in summer 1965. He spent three seasons with the "Latics", bagging 140 goals in 185 games as the club won a succession of minor trophies.

Career

Llewellyn signed his first senior contract with Everton in May 1956.[5] He scored on his "Toffees" debut, a 2–0 win over Blackpool at Goodison Park on 22 August, and scored another goal three days later in a 2–2 draw at home to Bolton Wanderers.[5] He went on to play nine further league games for Everton, without finding the net. Under the stewardship of Ian Buchan, the club finished 15th in the First Division in 1956–57, and then 16th in 1957–58.[6][7]

He signed with Crewe Alexandra in July 1958.[5] Harry Ware's "Railwaymen" finished 18th in the Fourth Division in 1958–59, and then 14th in 1959–60. In two years at Gresty Road, Llewellyn scored 51 goals in 96 league games.[8]

He joined Norman Low's Third Division Port Vale for a £7,000 fee in November 1960.[1] He scored on his debut in a 1–0 victory over Barnsley at Vale Park on 12 November.[1] He scored a hat-trick in a 4–1 home win over Hull City on 10 December, and again in a 4–1 home win over Swindon Town on 18 February.[1] He finished the 1960–61 season with 20 goals in 32 appearances, and was a member of the team that won the Supporters' Clubs' Trophy in 1961.[1]

Llewellyn scored 20 goals in 50 games in the 1961–62 season to become the club's joint-top scorer (with Arthur Longbottom).[1] He hit his third hat-trick for the "Valiants" on 6 January, in a 3–1 FA Cup victory over Northampton Town.[1] He scored 10 goals in 21 games in 1962–63, including a hat-trick past Crystal Palace in a 4–1 home win on 8 December.[1] However, he was sold to Dave Bowen's Northampton Town for £7,000 by new manager Freddie Steele in February 1963; Steele had sold off strike-partner Longbottom the previous month.[1]

Llewellyn only played eleven minutes of one match for the "Cobblers" due to a serious leg injury he sustained on his debut.[5] He therefore played little part in the club's Third Division title-winning campaign in 1962–63, and soon departed the County Ground. He moved on to Bill Moore's Walsall in February 1964.[5] He scored six goals in 17 Third Division games in 1963–64 and 1964–65, a solid return for a striker just returning to fitness in a struggling team. He then left Fellows Park, and joined Allan Brown's Cheshire County League side Wigan Athletic.[5]

Llewellyn made his league debut for Wigan against Buxton, scoring twice in a 4–3 win.[9] He formed a solid partnership with Harry Lyon, and hit 57 goals in 57 games in his first season at Springfield Park, as the "Latics" finished as the league's runners-up in 1965–66.[5] He also helped the club to win the Cheshire League Cup, Lancashire Junior Cup and Liverpool Non League Senior Cup.[5] He scored 28 goals in 40 games in 1966–67, as Wigan finished in second place again, whilst lifting four trophies: the Liverpool Non League Senior Cup, Lancashire Floodlit Cup, and the Northern Floodlit League championship and cup. Llewellyn then hit 18 goals in 35 league games in 1967–68, his last season in football.[5] In all he scored 140 goals in 185 appearances across all competitions in just three seasons at Wigan, playing under the management of four different men: Allan Brown, Alf Craig, Harry Leyland, and Allan Sanders.[5] He hit five goals on two separate occasions, hit four goals in three other games, and also claimed a total of six hat-tricks.[5]

Style of play

Llewellyn was a pacey centre-forward with good ball-control skills.[3]

Career statistics

Source:[10]

Club Season Division League FA Cup Other Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Everton 1956–57 First Division 10 2 0 0 0 0 10 2
1957–58 First Division 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
Total 11 2 0 0 0 0 11 2
Crewe Alexandra 1958–59 Fourth Division 41 15 2 1 0 0 43 16
1959–60 Fourth Division 40 25 6 5 0 0 46 30
1960–61 Fourth Division 15 7 0 0 2 2 17 9
Total 96 47 8 6 2 2 106 55
Port Vale 1960–61 Third Division 28 20 2 0 0 0 30 20
1961–62 Third Division 42 15 7 4 1 1 50 20
1962–63 Third Division 18 7 2 3 1 0 21 10
Total 88 42 11 7 2 1 101 50
Northampton Town 1962–63 Third Division 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
1963–64 Second Division 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0
Total 1 0 0 0 1 0 2 0
Walsall 1963–64 Third Division 10 4 0 0 0 0 10 4
1964–65 Third Division 7 2 0 0 2 1 9 3
Total 17 6 0 0 2 1 19 7
Wigan Athletic total[11] 115 96 0 0 70 44 185 140
Career total 328 193 19 13 77 48 424 254

Honours

Wigan Athletic[5]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Kent, Jeff (1996). Port Vale Personalities. Witan Books. p. 173. ISBN 0-9529152-0-0.
  2. ^ "Bert Llewellyn Passes Away". Everton FC. 8 September 2016. Archived from the original on 16 September 2016. Retrieved 9 September 2016.
  3. ^ a b Baggaley, Mike (8 September 2016). "Port Vale and Crewe hero Bert Llewellyn dies aged 77". The Sentinel. Retrieved 8 September 2016.
  4. ^ Kent, Jeff (December 1991). Port Vale Tales: A Collection of Stories, Anecdotes And Memories. Witan Books. p. 280. ISBN 0-9508981-6-3.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l "The TNS Top 50 All time Latics players: Number 48 – Bert Llewellyn". thisnorthernsoul.co.uk. Archived from the original on 14 November 2012. Retrieved 30 August 2012.
  6. ^ "Season 1956–57". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 9 September 2016.
  7. ^ "Season 1957–58". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Archived from the original on 2 May 2001. Retrieved 9 September 2016.
  8. ^ "Stats". neilbrown.newcastlefans.com. Retrieved 9 September 2016.
  9. ^ Hayes, Dean (1996). The Latics: The Official History of Wigan Athletic F.C. Harefield: Yore Publications. p. 100. ISBN 1-874427-91-7.
  10. ^ Bert Llewellyn at the English National Football Archive (subscription required)
  11. ^ "Bert Llewellyn (1939–2016)". wiganlatics.co.uk. 8 September 2016. Retrieved 8 September 2016.
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