Chic Brodie (footballer)

Chic Brodie

Personal information
Full name	Charles Thomas George Brodie
Date of birth	(1937-02-22)22 February 1937
Place of birth	Duntocher, Scotland
Date of death
Place of death	Ealing, England
Position(s)	Goalkeeper
Youth career
	Partick Avondale
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1953–1957	Manchester City	0	(0)
1957–1958	Gillingham	18	(0)
1958–1961	Aldershot	95	(0)
1961	Wolverhampton Wanderers	1	(0)
1961–1963	Northampton Town	87	(0)
1963–1971	Brentford	199	(0)
1971–1973	Margate
1973–1974	Wealdstone
1974–1975	Maidstone United
International career
	Scotland Schoolboys
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Charles Thomas George "Chic" Brodie (22 February 1937 – 24 April 2000) was a Scottish association football player. A goalkeeper, he made 400 appearances in The Football League, but his professional career came to an end in 1970 when he was seriously injured after colliding with a dog which had run onto the field of play.

Career

Manchester City

Born in Duntocher, Brodie began his career with Junior club Partick Avondale before signing for Manchester City of the Football League First Division in 1953. He spent four years with the club, playing understudy to the popular German goalkeeper Bert Trautmann, but failed to break into the first team and departed in 1957.

Gillingham

Brodie dropped down the leagues to join Gillingham of the Third Division South in 1957. He spent one season with the Kent-based club, during which he played 22 times.

Aldershot

Brodie joined Fourth Division side Aldershot in July 1958. At the time he was completing his National Service and was stationed in the town. He remained at the Recreation Ground until February 1961 and departed having made 106 appearances for the club.

Wolverhampton Wanderers

Brodie secured a move back to the top-flight when he joined Wolverhampton Wanderers for a then-club record £9,000 in February 1961. He played just one match for Wolves, before departing Molineux in September 1961.

Northampton Town

Brodie dropped back down to the Third Division to join Northampton Town in September 1961, for £4,000. His first appearance for the club meant that he made three consecutive appearances for three different clubs. Brodie played regularly for the club for just over two years, winning a Third Division championship medal during the successful 1962–63 campaign. He departed the County Ground in November 1961, having made 97 appearances for the Cobblers.

Brentford

Brodie moved to London to join Third Division side Brentford in November 1963. He quickly usurped long-standing regular goalkeeper Gerry Cakebread and was the Bees' regular goalkeeper until losing his place to Gordon Phillips during an injury-affected 1966–67 season. He regained his place in the team early in the 1970–71 campaign, but in November 1970, a dog ran onto the field of play during a match away to Colchester United and collided with Brodie, damaging ligaments in his knee. Though he managed five further appearances during the second half of the season, the injury ended Brodie's professional career. Later, Brodie summed up the incident by saying that "the dog may have been small, but it just happened to be solid". Brodie departed Griffin Park at the end of the 1970–71 season, having made 224 appearances during his eight years with the Bees. He was posthumously inducted into the Brentford Hall of Fame in 2015.

Non-league football

In 1971 Brodie resumed playing, albeit at a semi-professional level, with Southern League Premier Division club Margate. He remained with the Gate for two seasons and was in goal when the team lost 11–0 to Bournemouth in an FA Cup match in November 1971. He later played for Wealdstone and Maidstone United before retiring from football.

International career

Brodie represented Scotland at schoolboy level.

Personal life

After his retirement from football, Brodie became a London taxi driver and as of September 1995 was living in Southall. He died in 2000 at the age of 63, after suffering with prostate cancer.

Honours

As a player

Northampton Town

• Football League Fourth Division (1): 1962–63

Brentford

• London Challenge Cup (1): 1966–67

As an individual

• Brentford Supporters' Player of the Year (2): 1964–65, 1965–66
• Brentford Players' Player of the Year (1): 1969–70
• Brentford Hall of Fame