West Ham United was saddened to learn of the death of former player George Petchey at the age of 88.
The wing half, who joined the Hammers at the age of 17 and went on to make three first-team appearances in 1952, passed away on 23 December 2019.
Born in Whitechapel in June 1931, Petchey was a tough-tackling, hard-working defensive midfielder who could also pass the ball with vision and accuracy.
After joining the Club as a teenager, Petchey made his senior debut at the age of 21, playing alongside Ernie Gregory, Malcolm Allison and Frank O’Farrell in a goalless Second Division draw with Hull City at the Boleyn Ground on 1 September 1952.
Wearing the No10 shirt, Petchey kept his place for the next game, a 2-1 home defeat by Birmingham City, but would never appear in the Football League in Claret and Blue again.
However, he did make a third and final first-team appearance on 13 November of the same year, starting alongside Allison, Noel Cantwell and debuting forward Tommy Dixon in a 3-2 Essex Professional Cup win at Colchester United.
August 1953 saw Petchey move across London to Queens Park Rangers, where he would play 255 Football League games over the next seven seasons, all of them at Third Division level.
In 1960, he joined Crystal Palace, helping the Eagles to win promotion from the Third Division in his first season at Selhurst Park, before retiring due to a serious eye injury.
Undeterred, Petchey joined manager Arthur Rowe’s coaching staff and later went on to manage Orient – where he developed future England winger Lawrie Cunningham – and Millwall and become first-team coach at Brighton & Hove Albion.
The first English coach to complete his UEFA coaching qualifications, he was appointed chief scout at Newcastle United, where he later took on a first-team coaching role under Sir Bobby Robson.
Everyone at West Ham United would like to express their sadness and pass on their sincere condolences to George’s family and friends at this sad time.