David Herd (footballer)

Summary

David George Herd (15 April 1934 – 1 October 2016) was a Scottish international footballer who played for Arsenal, Manchester United, Stockport County, and Stoke City. His regular position was as a forward where he was a consistent goal scorer.[1]

David Herd
David Herd scoring (1963)
Personal information
Full name David George Herd[1]
Date of birth (1934-04-15)15 April 1934[1]
Place of birth Hamilton, Lanarkshire, Scotland[1]
Date of death 1 October 2016(2016-10-01) (aged 82)
Position(s) Forward
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1951–1954 Stockport County 15 (6)
1954–1961 Arsenal 166 (97)
1961–1968 Manchester United 202 (114)
1968–1970 Stoke City 44 (11)
1970–1971 Waterford 3 (0)
Total 430 (228)
International career
1958–1961 Scotland 5 (3)
1961[2] SFA trial v SFL 1 (2)
Managerial career
1971–1972 Lincoln City
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Playing career edit

Stockport County edit

Herd was born in Hamilton, Lanarkshire but grew up in Manchester as his father Alex was playing for Manchester City and later Stockport County where Herd Jr. began his career. He made his debut on the final day of the 1950–51 season with his father and he scored as County beat Hartlepools United 2–0.[1] His appearances for Stockport were limited by his national service duties. He scored five goals in 12 games in 1953–54 and he attracted the attentions of First Division clubs.

Arsenal edit

Herd did well enough to attract the attention of Arsenal, who signed him for £10,000 in 1954. Herd made his Arsenal debut on 19 February 1955 against Leicester City. Herd continued to be a bit part player, playing just eight games in his first two seasons at the club, before making his breakthrough in 1956–57, scoring 18 goals in 28 games that season. From then on he was an established goalscorer, being the club's top goalscorer for four seasons straight, from 1956–57 through to 1960–61 – when he hit 29 goals, the most by an Arsenal player since Ronnie Rooke.

However, Arsenal's poor form meant they were nowhere near winning a trophy, the closest coming was a third place in the league in 1958–59. Despite being top scorer in 1960–61, Herd was unsettled at Arsenal due to their lack of success, and he moved to Manchester United in July 1961 for £35,000. In all he scored 107 goals for Arsenal in 180 appearances, making him the club's 15th highest goalscorer.

Manchester United edit

His first game for United came against West Ham United on 19 August 1961. Herd helped the club to the 1962–63 FA Cup, scoring two goals in the final itself against Leicester City.[3] He also helped them to win the English league championship in 1965 and 1967,.[3]

His first team appearances were limited after he suffered a broken leg in March 1967. Herd was part of the squad that won the 1967–68 European Cup, but he was not selected for the final on 29 May 1968.[3] In all, he scored 145 career goals in 265 appearances (including one substitute appearance), an average of 0.54 goals per game and is currently 13th on the all-time club goalscorers list. He also once scored past three different goalkeepers in one match on 26 November 1966 against Sunderland, as United won the game 5–0.

Stoke City edit

He left Manchester United in July 1968 for Stoke City on a free transfer.[1] He played 39 games for Stoke in 1968–69 scoring nine goals as Stoke had a poor season narrowly avoiding relegation.[1] In 1969–70 Herd made nine appearances scoring twice and was released at the end of the season.[1]

Waterford United edit

In December 1970 Herd signed for Shay Brennan at Waterford.[4] He made his league of Ireland debut at Kilcohan Park on 14 December.

International career edit

He won his first cap for Scotland, on 18 October 1958 against Wales at Ninian Park; Scotland won 3–0. Herd won five caps in total for Scotland between 1958 and 1961, scoring three goals, his last cap coming in a 4–0 defeat by Czechoslovakia on 14 May 1961.

Managerial career edit

After retiring from playing, he had a stint managing Lincoln City between 1971 and 1972.

Personal life edit

Born in Hamilton, Lanarkshire, Herd was the son of former Manchester City player Alec Herd and the nephew of Scottish international Sandy Herd.

He died on 1 October 2016.[5][6] Players of former clubs Manchester United and Stoke City wore black arm bands when they played each other the next day. His small, family funeral on 14 October at Middlebie in Dumfriesshire was in the same cemetery as his parents who spent their latter years living in Ecclefechan.

Career statistics edit

Club edit

Club[7] Season League FA Cup League Cup Europe Other[A] Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Stockport County 1950–51 Third Division North 1 1 0 0 1 1
1951–52 Third Division North 2 0 0 0 2 0
1952–53 Third Division North 0 0 0 0 0 0
1953–54 Third Division North 12 5 0 0 12 5
Total 15 6 0 0 15 6
Arsenal 1954–55 First Division 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 1
1955–56 First Division 5 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 2
1956–57 First Division 22 12 6 6 0 0 0 0 28 18
1957–58 First Division 39 24 1 0 0 0 0 0 40 24
1958–59 First Division 26 15 5 3 0 0 0 0 31 18
1959–60 First Division 31 14 1 0 0 0 0 0 32 14
1960–61 First Division 40 29 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 41 30
Total 166 97 14 10 0 0 0 0 0 0 180 107
Manchester United 1961–62 First Division 27 14 5 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 32 17
1962–63 First Division 37 19 6 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 43 21
1963–64 First Division 30 20 7 4 0 0 6 3 1 0 44 27
1964–65 First Division 37 20 7 2 0 0 11 6 0 0 55 28
1965–66 First Division 37 24 7 3 0 0 7 5 1 1 52 33
1966–67 First Division 28 16 2 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 31 18
1967–68 First Division 6 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 8 1
Total 202 114 35 15 1 1 25 14 2 1 265 145
Stoke City 1968–69 First Division 35 9 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 39 9
1969–70 First Division 9 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 9 2
Total 44 11 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 48 11
Waterford United 1970–71 League of Ireland 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0
Career Total 430 228 53 25 1 1 25 14 2 1 511 269
A. ^ The "Other" column constitutes appearances and goals in the FA Charity Shield.

International edit

National team Year Apps Goals
Scotland[8] 1958 2 1
1959 1 0
1961 2 2
Total 5 3

Honours edit

Manchester United[9][3]

See also edit

References edit

Specific
  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Matthews, Tony (1994). The Encyclopaedia of Stoke City. Lion Press. ISBN 0-9524151-0-0.
  2. ^ Ronnie McDevitt (2016). Scotland in the 60s: The Definitive Account of the Scottish National Football Side During the 1960s. Pitch Publishing. ISBN 9781785312458.[permanent dead link]
  3. ^ a b c d "David Herd: Ex-Manchester United and Arsenal striker dies, aged 82". BBC Sport. 2 October 2016. Retrieved 26 November 2016.
  4. ^ [1] [dead link]
  5. ^ Scott (29 July 2016). "David Herd – United legend passes away". Therepublikofmancunia.com. Retrieved 2 October 2016.
  6. ^ Goalscorer and garage owner: Remembering Manchester United and Arsenal forward David Herd
  7. ^ David Herd at the English National Football Archive (subscription required)
  8. ^ Herd, David at National-Football-Teams.com
  9. ^ "David Herd – Player Profile – Football". Eurosport UK. Retrieved 4 June 2021.
General
  • Harris, Jeff (1995). Hogg, Tony (ed.). Arsenal Who's Who. Independent UK Sports. ISBN 1-899429-03-4.

External links edit

  • David Herd at Post War English & Scottish Football League A–Z Player's Transfer Database