William Francis Garton ( born March 15, 1965 , Salford ), better known as Billy Garton - English footballer , central defender , best known for playing for Manchester United in the second half of the 1980s [1] [ 2] .
 Billy Garton | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| general information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Full name | William Francis Garton | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Was born | March 15, 1965 (54 years old) Salford , England | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Citizenship |  England | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Growth | 180 cm | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position | center back | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Biography
A native of Salford, Billy Garton began playing football for the local school and youth teams Trafford Road Junior School, Ordsall High School, Barr Hill, Salford Boys and Lancashire Boys. The young player was interested in Everton, Birmingham City and Blackpool, but in April 1980 he signed an amateur contract with Manchester United . On August 16, 1980, he made his debut for the Manchester United youth team as a central defender in an away game against Bury, which ended with a score of 0: 0. The next few seasons, he spent for the youth and reserve team, United. His idol and role model at that time was the Scottish defender Martin Beacon [3] . In the 1981/82 season, Garton was part of the Manchester United team, which reached the final of the FA Youth Cup . In the two-round final, United lost to Watford (a 2–3 defeat at Old Trafford and a 4–4 at Vickridge Road , with Garton scoring an own goal in a return match).
Garton’s official debut for the main team took place on September 26, 1984 in the Football League Cup match against Burnley . The match ended in victory for United with a score of 4: 0 [4] . On November 7, Billy replaced Kevin Moran in the stoppage time of the UEFA Cup match against PSV at Old Trafford [5] [6] . On November 10, he made his debut in the First Division , leaving the starting lineup for an away match against Leicester City . The match ended with the victory of United with a score of 3: 2 [7] . In the 1984/85 season, he spent only 4 matches for the main team. At the same time, he continued to regularly play for the reservists, having played 29 matches in the Central League in the 1984/85 season [3] . In the 1985/86 season, Garton spent 11 matches for the main team. As the main bunch of central defenders, head coach Ron Atkinson preferred Kevin Moran and Paul McGrath , so Garton went on loan to Birmingham City to receive playing time in 1986. He spent 5 matches for the City in the championship , as a result of which the Birmingham team dropped out of the top division [3] .
In the course of the 1986/87 season , the team changed its head coach: they became Scot Alex Ferguson . Under the leadership of Ferguson, Billy Garton played eight consecutive matches from late December 1986 to early February 1987, replacing Paul Magrat, but then lost his place in the lineup. In September and October 1987, Garton played nine games in a row, after which he was out of order due to an injury. Injuries constantly harassed the young defender, and in December 1987 Ferguson decided to sign Steve Bruce of Norwich City . By 1990, when Bruce and Gary Pallister played at United at the center of defense, Garton was considering several offers from various clubs to pursue a career, agreeing to move to Manchester City . However, in the end, that transfer did not take place due to poor medical examination results. He was diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome , after which Garton completed his professional career [2] . In total, he played 51 games [8] [9] for the main team of Manchester United.
After leaving United, he took the Football Association's coaching courses, and in the 1992/93 season he became head coach of the Salford City club. In fact, he was a playing coach, but he was removed from the field in the first game under his leadership for a fight with a player of the opposing team. [ 17 ] After 17 months at Salford, he moved to , for which played 23 matches in the 1993/94 season [2] . From 1994 to 1998 he played for Hyde United , having played 149 official matches for the club and scoring 5 goals (including 100 matches and 1 goal in leagues) [10] , combining games with work in the club’s coaching staff [3] . He also received a pedagogical education and worked as a teacher in several schools in Greater Manchester [3] .
In 2000 and 2001, he again played for Salford City, after which he emigrated to the United States with his wife who received a green card . Since then, he has been living in San Diego , California , where he is a co-founder and co- manager of the Carmel Valley Manchester Soccer Club [3] .
Notes
- ↑ Iain McCartney. The official Manchester United Players AZ. - London: Simon & Schuster, 2013 .-- P. 167. - ISBN 978-1-47112-846-2 .
- ↑ 1 2 3 Brennan, Stuart Garton's tale helps revive forgotten era . Manchester Evening News (November 9, 2006).
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Billy Garton . Sons of United.
- ↑ Manchester United 4 v 0 Burnley, League Cup 2nd Round - 1st Leg (agg 4-0), 26th September 1984, Season 1984-1985, Venue: Old Trafford . MUFCInfo.com.
- ↑ Manchester United 1 v 0 PSV Eindhoven, Inter Cities Fairs Cup / UEFA Cup 3rd Round - 2nd Leg (Agg 1-0), 7th November 1984, Season 1984-1985, Venue: Old Trafford . MUFCInfo.com.
- ↑ Man. United-PSV UEFA.com.
- ↑ Leicester City 2 v 3 Manchester United, League Division One Matchday 14, 10th November 1984, Season 1984-1985, Venue: Filbert Street . MUFCInfo.com.
- ↑ Billy Garton . MUFCInfo.com.
- ↑ Billy Garton . StretfordEnd.co.uk.
- ↑ Player details: Billy Garton . Hyde United Football Club Database.