| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | John Goodchild[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1939-01-02)2 January 1939 | ||
| Place of birth | Sherburn Hill, County Durham, England | ||
| Date of death | 25 August 2011(2011-08-25) (aged 72) | ||
| Place of death | Durham | ||
| Height | 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)[1] | ||
| Position | Inside forward | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Ludworth Juniors | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1957–1961 | Sunderland | 44 | (21) |
| 1961–1966 | Brighton & Hove Albion | 163 | (44) |
| 1966–1967 | York City | 29 | (6) |
| 1967–1968 | Darlington | 2 | (0) |
| – | Goole Town | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Johnny Goodchild (2 January 1939 – 25 August 2011) was a professionalfootballer who scored 71 goals from 238 appearances inthe Football League playing as aninside forward forSunderland,Brighton & Hove Albion,York City andDarlington.[2]
Goodchild was born inSherburn Hill, County Durham. He worked as a miner and played for Ludworth Juniors before signing forSunderland.[3] He scored on his first-team debut, on 4 September 1957 in a 3–2 home defeat ofLeicester City in theFirst Division, and produced 16 goals the following season.[4] He then fell out of favour, and, despite scoring ahat-trick away atLeeds United in February 1961, his first game of the 1960–61 season, never appeared for the club again. Goodchild remembers "thinking to myself that if I couldn't get into the team after scoring a hat-trick away from home, I'd be on the transfer list at the end of the season. That's exactly what happened."[3]
He joinedSecond Division clubBrighton & Hove Albion, and in his first season with the club, was their joint-top scorer (alongsideBobby Laverick andTony Nicholas) with 10 goals in all competitions. Two years later, by which time the club had been twicerelegated and were now playing inDivision Four, he was top scorer on his own, with 15 goals in all competitions.[5] In 1964–65, Goodchild was one of six goalscorers to reach double figures as Albion won the Fourth Division title.[6]
He returned to the north of England in 1966, spending a season withYork City and a brief spell withDarlington.[2]
Goodchild was a keencricketer. He first played for his village side, inLittletown, at 14, and appeared forDurham Second XI in 1959.[7][8]He played cricket for many years in the Durham County League for Ushaw Moor CC.