Ronnie Briggs

Northern Irish footballer

Ronnie Briggs
Personal information
Full name	William Ronald Briggs
Date of birth	(1943-03-29)29 March 1943
Place of birth	Belfast, Northern Ireland
Date of death	28 August 2008(2008-08-28) (aged 65)
Place of death	Bristol, England
Height	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)^[1]
Position(s)	Goalkeeper
Youth career
1958–1960	Manchester United
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1960–1964	Manchester United	9	(0)
1964–1965	Swansea Town	27	(0)
1965–1968	Bristol Rovers	35	(0)
1968–?	Frome Town
International career
1962–1965	Northern Ireland	2	(0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

William Ronald Briggs (29 March 1943 – 28 August 2008) was a Northern Irish footballer who played as a goalkeeper for Manchester United, Swansea Town and Bristol Rovers in the 1960s.

Born in Belfast, Briggs was scouted by Manchester United at the age of 15, and signed professional forms with them on his 17th birthday. His first team debut came 10 months later, in a First Division match away to Leicester City on 21 January 1961. However, his debut was unsuccessful; he conceded six goals as United lost 6–0. Briggs would go on to make a total of 11 appearances for the club, the last coming in 1962, before he was sold to Swansea Town in 1964. A year later, he was signed by Bristol Rovers, where he stayed until 1968, when he moved to Frome Town, thus ending his League football career.

Briggs also collected two caps for Northern Ireland, making his debut in a 4–0 loss to Wales in April 1962. His only other appearance was a 2–1 win over the Netherlands in 1965.

After retiring from football, Briggs went to live in Stapleton, Bristol, and worked in insurance, construction and security until a diagnosis of inoperable lung cancer in December 2007 forced his retirement in March 2008. Briggs died on 28 August 2008.^[2]

References

^ Dykes, Garth (1994). The United Alphabet: A Complete Who's Who of Manchester United F.C. Leicester: ACL & Polar Publishing (UK). p. 50. ISBN 0-9514862-6-8.
^ "Obituary: Ronnie Briggs". ManUtd.com. Manchester United. 3 September 2008. Retrieved 31 May 2015.