Roy Thomas Pritchard (9 May 1925 – January 1993) was an English footballer who played 247 league games at full back in the Football League for Wolverhampton Wanderers, Aston Villa, Notts County, and Port Vale. He also played war-time football for Wolves, Mansfield Town, Notts County, Swindon Town and Walsall, and later played Southern League football for Wellington Town. He won the Fourth Division title with Port Vale in 1958–59 and won both the FA Cup with Wolves in 1949, as well as the First Division title in 1953–54.
Career
Pritchard joined local side Wolverhampton Wanderers straight from school in 1941. The suspension of league football due to World War II delayed the official start of his Wolves career. However, it allowed him to play as a guest for Mansfield Town, Notts County, Swindon Town and Walsall.
He finally made his First Division debut after the resumption of the Football League on 12 October 1946, in a 6–1 thrashing of Huddersfield Town at
Molineux Stadium. This was one of just four starts under the stewardship of
Ted Vizard during the 1946–47 season. Under the management of
Stan Cullis, Pritchard became a regular fixture at full-back in the Wolves side over the next seven seasons. They reached fifth and sixth in the league in the 1947–48 and 1948–49 seasons, though their great success was to come in the
FA Cup. Pritchard helped the team to battle through the 1948–49 FA Cup campaign, beating Chesterfield, Sheffield United, Liverpool, West Bromwich Albion and Manchester United (in a semi-final replay) to reach the 1949 FA Cup final. He played all ninety minutes at Wembley, as Wolves defeated Leicester City 3–1. Wolves then came second in the league in the 1949–50 season, as Portsmouth's superior goal average proved decisive. They dropped to 14th place in 1950–51, but did manage to reach the semi-finals of the FA Cup. A 16th-place finish in 1951–52 was then followed by a third-place finish in 1952–53. He played 27 league games in the 1953–54 season, as Wolves won their first league title with a four-point lead over Midlands rivals West Bromwich Albion. They came close to retaining their title in the 1954–55 campaign, as Chelsea won the title by four points; Pritchard featured just seven times and also missed the 1954 FA Charity Shield, as a defensive reshuffle saw him out of favour.
In February 1955, Pritchard switched clubs to fellow Midland rivals Aston Villa.
Career statistics
+ Appearances and goals by club, season and competition |
|
|
| Wolverhampton Wanderers | 1946–47 | First Division | 0 |
| 1947–48 | First Division | 0 |
| 1948–49 | First Division | 0 |
| 1949–50 | First Division | 0 |
| 1950–51 | First Division | 0 |
| 1951–52 | First Division | 0 |
| 1952–53 | First Division | 0 |
| 1953–54 | First Division | 0 |
| 1954–55 | First Division | 0 |
|
| Aston Villa | 1955–56 | First Division | 0 |
| 1956–57 | First Division | 0 |
| 1957–58 | First Division | 0 |
|
| Notts County | 1957–58 | Second Division | 1 |
| Port Vale | 1958–59 | Fourth Division | 0 |
| 1959–60 | Third Division | 0 |
|
|
Honours
Wolverhampton Wanderers
-
FA Cup: 1949
-
Football League First Division: 1953–54
Port Vale
-
Football League Fourth Division: 1958–59
