Johnny Warsap

John William Benjamin "Johnny" Warsap (18 May 1921 – 7 May 1992) was an English professional association football player, who spent his entire career with Gillingham.

Johnny Warsap
Personal information
Full name John William Benjamin Warsap
Date of birth (1921-05-18)18 May 1921
Place of birth Leytonstone, England
Date of death 7 May 1992(1992-05-07) (aged 70)
Place of death Rochester, England
Position(s) outside right
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1945–1958 Gillingham[1] 107 (37)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Career

Born in Leytonstone, Warsap served with the Royal Berkshire Regiment during the Second World War. In 1945 he played for the regimental football team in a friendly against Gillingham, and his skills as an outside right caught the eye of Gillingham manager Archie Clark, who persuaded him to sign for the club as a professional later that year.[2] He made 9 appearances and scored 8 goals as the club won the Kent League championship in the 1945–46 season.[3] He was a semi-regular player in the Gills' team after the club re-joined the Southern Football League in 1946, making around 20 appearances each season over the following four seasons, and helping the club win the championship on two occasions.[4] After the club gained re-election to the Football League at the end of the 1949–50 season, he found opportunities limited and only played nine times at the higher level over the course of three seasons. He scored his only Football League goal in a 2–1 defeat to Bournemouth in April 1953.[5] Although he did not play for the first team again after the 1953–54 season, he remained with the club until 1958, and was rewarded for his long service with a benefit match, jointly with Vic Niblett, against a British Army team in that year.[2] After his retirement from professional football, he continued to play in local amateur leagues well into his fifties, while working in the gas industry. He died in Rochester in 1992, shortly before his 71st birthday.[2]

He was buried at St Margaret's cemetery, Rochester.[6]

Personal life

He had a son named Barry, who also played amateur football to a high standard in Kent.[2]

References
  1. Combines Kent League, Southern League and Football League appearances and goals
  2. Triggs, Roger (2001). The Men Who Made Gillingham Football Club. Tempus Publishing Ltd. p. 75. ISBN 0-7524-2243-X.
  3. Brown, Tony (2003). The Definitive Gillingham F.C.: A Complete Record. Soccerdata. p. 55. ISBN 1-899468-20-X.
  4. Brown, Tony. The Definitive Gillingham F.C.: A Complete Record. pp. 56–59.
  5. Brown, Tony. The Definitive Gillingham F.C.: A Complete Record. p. 62.
  6. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/33508426
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