Barry Wellings

Barry Wellings (born 10 June 1958) is an English former professional footballer who played as a striker. He played for several teams in England, appearing in the Football League for York City, Rochdale, Tranmere Rovers and Swansea City. He also played in the Portuguese Primeira Divisão and Segunda Divisão for Académica de Coimbra.

Barry Wellings
Personal information
Full name Barry Wellings[1]
Date of birth (1958-06-10) 10 June 1958[1]
Place of birth Liverpool, England
Height 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m)[2]
Position(s) Striker
Youth career
000?–1976 Everton
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1976–1978 Everton 0 (0)
1978–1980 York City 47 (9)
1980–1983 Rochdale 116 (30)
1983 Tranmere Rovers 16 (3)
1983 Northwich Victoria 17 (1)
1983–1984 Tranmere Rovers 9 (0)
1984 Oswestry Town
1984 Swansea City 5 (3)
1984–1989 Académica 104 (12)
1990–1991 Southport 12 (0)
1991–1992 Runcorn 16 (1)
Droylsden
Total 342 (59)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Career

Born in Liverpool, Lancashire, Wellings started his career with Everton as an apprentice in their youth system, before signing a professional contract in June 1976.[1] After spending two seasons playing in the reserve team as cover for Bob Latchford and Duncan McKenzie, he joined Fourth Division team York City in June 1978.[2] Making his debut in a 3–0 away defeat at Barnsley on 2 September 1978, Wellings scored his first goal for York with the winner in a 2–1 victory away to Doncaster Rovers on 18 November.[3] He finished his first season at the club with four goals from 20 appearances,[3] before scoring seven goals in 35 matches in the 1979–80 season.[4]

Wellings failed to score enough goals for York to warrant a regular place in the team, meaning he moved to fellow Fourth Division club Rochdale in July 1980.[2] He made his debut in a 2–2 away draw with Stockport County on 16 August 1980, before scoring his first goal in a 2–2 draw away to Peterborough United on 13 September.[5] He finished his first season with Rochdale as top scorer with 14 goals, and was ever-present in the team, appearing in all 49 of the team's fixtures.[5] Wellings was ever-present with Rochdale for a second successive season, making 51 appearances, in which he scored 12 goals.[6]

Having scored eight goals in 29 appearances for Rochdale during the 1982–83 season,[7] Wellings signed for Fourth Division rivals Tranmere Rovers in February 1983.[1] His debut came in a home match against Northampton Town on 19 February 1983, in which he scored the winning goal of a 2–1 win.[8] He scored three goals in 16 appearances for Tranmere before the end of the season.[8] Wellings dropped into non-League football with Northwich Victoria of the Alliance Premier League, scoring one goal in 17 appearances in the 1983–84 season, before returning to Tranmere on non-contract terms in December 1983.[2][9] He made his second debut for the club in a 1–1 away draw with York on 27 December 1983, making nine appearances before the end of the season.[10]

He was playing for Northern Premier League side Oswestry Town in the 1984–85 season before joining Swansea City of the Third Division on non-contract terms in September 1984.[2][11] His debut came in a 3–0 defeat away to Brentford on 22 September 1984, before scoring his first goal in a 2–1 away victory over Bournemouth on 2 October.[12] He scored three goals in five games for Swansea before signing for Portuguese Primeira Divisão team Académica de Coimbra in late 1984, where he scored two goals in nine league appearances in the 1984–85 season.[12][13] In his first full season with Académica, Wellings scored six goals from 26 league matches, before scoring three in 27 league appearances in the 1986–87 season.[13] He scored once in 27 league matches as Académica were relegated in the 1987–88 season, before failing to score in 15 appearances in the Segunda Divisão in his final season with the club.[13]

Wellings returned to playing in England with Southport of the Northern Premier League Premier Division, where he made 12 league appearances in the 1990–91 season.[14] A spell in the Football Conference with Runcorn followed, making 15 league appearances and scoring one goal in the 1991–92 season, before playing in one league match in the 1992–93 season.[15] He finished his career with Droylsden.[2]

Career statistics
Club statistics
Club Season League National Cup League Cup Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
York City 1978–79[3] Fourth Division 1524210—204
1979–80[4] Fourth Division 3273000—357
Total 4797210—5511
Rochdale 1980–81[5] Fourth Division 46141020—4914
1981–82[6] Fourth Division 46113021—5112
1982–83[7] Fourth Division 2451142—298
Total 116305183—12934
Tranmere Rovers 1982–83[8] Fourth Division 1630000—163
Northwich Victoria 1983–84[9] Alliance Premier League 171—171
Tranmere Rovers 1983–84[10] Fourth Division 9000000090
Swansea City 1984–85[12] Third Division 5300000053
Académica 1984–85[13] Primeira Divisão 92——92
1985–86[13] Primeira Divisão 266——266
1986–87[13] Primeira Divisão 273——273
1987–88[13] Primeira Divisão 271——271
1988–89[13] Segunda Divisão 150——150
Total 10412——10412
Southport 1990–91[14] NPL Premier Division 120—120
Runcorn 1991–92[15] Football Conference 151—151
1992–93[15] Football Conference 10—10
Total 161—161
Career total 34259123930036365

    References
    1. Hugman, Barry J., ed. (2005). The PFA Premier & Football League Players' Records 1946–2005. Queen Anne Press. p. 647. ISBN 978-1-85291-665-7.
    2. Jarred, Martin; Windross, Dave (1997). Citizens and Minstermen, A Who's Who of York City FC 1922–1997. Citizen Publications. p. 110. ISBN 978-0-9531005-0-7.
    3. Batters, Dave (2008). York City: The Complete Record. Breedon Books. pp. 350–351. ISBN 978-1-85983-633-0.
    4. Batters. York City: The Complete Record. pp. 352–353.
    5. Rollin, Jack, ed. (1980). Rothmans Football Yearbook 1981–82. Queen Anne Press. pp. 298–299, 430–432, 466. ISBN 0-362-02046-9.
    6. Rollin, Jack, ed. (1982). Rothmans Football Yearbook 1982–83. Queen Anne Press. pp. 314–315, 445–448, 468–470. ISBN 978-0-356-07888-5.
    7. Williams, Tony, ed. (1983). Rothmans Football Yearbook 1983–84. Queen Anne Press. pp. 308–309, 502–510, 536. ISBN 978-0-356-09727-5.
    8. Williams (ed.). Rothmans Football Yearbook 1983–84. pp. 368–369.
    9. Harman, John (2005). Alliance to Conference 1979–2004: The First 25 Years. Tony Williams Publications. pp. 499, 509. ISBN 978-1-869833-52-7.
    10. Dunk, Peter, ed. (1984). Rothmans Football Yearbook 1984–85. Queen Anne Press. pp. 366–367. ISBN 978-0-356-10446-1.
    11. Brown, Neil. "Barry Wellings". Post War English & Scottish Football League A – Z Player's database. Retrieved 2 November 2012.
    12. Dunk, Peter, ed. (1985). Rothmans Football Yearbook 1985–86. Queen Anne Press. pp. 350–351. ISBN 978-0-356-10872-8.
    13. "Barry Wellings". ForaDeJogo. Retrieved 22 October 2013.
    14. "Season by season NL player lists" (PDF). Southport Football Club stats. p. 13. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 October 2013. Retrieved 22 October 2013.
    15. Harman. Alliance to Conference 1979–2004: The First 25 Years. pp. 542, 548.
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