Tony Betts

Anthony Thomas Betts (born 31 October 1953) is an English former footballer who played as a forward. He played in the Football League, the North American Soccer League, and the Major Indoor Soccer League.

Tony Betts
Personal information
Full name Anthony Thomas Betts[1]
Date of birth (1953-10-31) 31 October 1953[1]
Place of birth Derby, England[1]
Height 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)[2]
Position(s) Forward
Youth career
1969–1974 Aston Villa
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1974–1975 Aston Villa 4 (0)
1974–1975 → Southport (loan) 8 (1)
1975 Portland Timbers 18 (7)
1975 Port Vale 1 (0)
1975 Boldmere St. Michael's
1976–1977 Portland Timbers 48 (6)
1979 Minnesota Kicks 1 (0)
1979–1982 Buffalo Stallions (indoor) 70 (13)
Total 151+ (27+)
International career
1972 England Youth
England Amateurs
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

He began his career at Aston Villa, featuring in the 1972 FA Youth Cup final. He was loaned out to Southport in 1974–75, before he emigrated to America to play for the Portland Timbers. He helped the Timbers to the final of the Soccer Bowl in 1975, before briefly returning to England with Port Vale and Boldmere St. Michael's. He returned to Portland Timbers for two more seasons, before joining the Minnesota Kicks in 1979. He then spent the last three years of his career with indoor football club Buffalo Stallions.

Career

Betts started his career as a professional at Aston Villa in March 1972 and played for the "Villans" in the 1972 FA Youth Cup final win over Liverpool, playing alongside players such as John Gidman, Alan Little, and Brian Little.[3] He made four Second Division appearances at Villa Park under the stewardship of Ron Saunders. He was loaned out to Alan Ball's Southport of the Fourth Division, scoring once in eight league appearances in the 1974–75 campaign.[4] His contract with Aston Villa was cancelled in April 1975.[3]

He moved to the United States to play for the Portland Timbers in 1975, who were managed by former Villa manager Vic Crowe. He scored seven goals in 18 games,[5] helping the Timbers to the top of the Western Conference of the North American Soccer League. He scored the golden goal in extra time for Portland in a memorable play-off victory against archival Seattle Sounders on 12 August. They went on to play Soccer Bowl '75, but lost 2–0 to the Tampa Bay Rowdies at Spartan Stadium.

He had a trial with Roy Sproson's Port Vale in September 1975, and started for a 2–1 Third Division defeat at Gillingham on 11 October 1975.[6] He was let go in November that year without making another appearance in 1975–76.[1] He briefly played for Boldmere St. Michael's in the Midland Football Combination, before returning to the Civic Stadium in 1976. He scored five goals in 24 games,[5] becoming the club's top scorer. Betts was retained by new manager Brian Tiler for the 1977 season, though scored just once in 24 games,[5] in a disappointing campaign for the Timbers.

Betts played for the Minnesota Kicks of the North American Soccer League in 1979, gaining one assist in his only appearance at the Metropolitan Stadium for Roy McCrohan's side.[5] The Kicks won the Central Division, but were defeated by the Tulsa Roughnecks in the play-offs. He then moved on to the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium to play for the Buffalo Stallions of the Major Indoor Soccer League. He scored four goals in 29 games in 1979–80, as the Stallions were beaten by the Pittsburgh Spirit in the first round of the play-offs. He scored seven goals in 32 appearances in 1980–81, as the Stallions again were beaten at the first stage of the play-offs, this time by the St. Louis Steamers. He scored two goals in nine games in 1981–82 as Buffalo again lost at the first stage of the play-offs, this time being beaten by the New York Arrows. He retired after undergoing knee surgery in 1982.[2]

Post-retirement

After retiring he settled in the Portland area and founded the West Villa Soccer Club. At the turn of the millennium he was working as an independent sales rep, selling sports shoes.[7]

Career statistics

Source:[8]

Club Season Division League FA Cup Other Total
AppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Aston Villa1974–75Second Division40001050
Southport (loan)1974–75Fourth Division81000081
Portland Timbers1975NASL187––––187
Port Vale1975–76Third Division10000010
Portland Timbers1976NASL245––––245
1977NASL241––––241
Total 4860000486
Minnesota Kicks1979NASL10––––10
Buffalo Stallions1979–80MISL294––––294
1980–81MISL327––––327
1981–82MISL92––––92
Total 701300007013

Honours

Aston Villa

Portland Timbers

Minnesota Kicks

References
  1. Kent, Jeff (1996). Port Vale Personalities. Witan Books. p. 28. ISBN 0-9529152-0-0.
  2. "Player Details". SFC FPA. 9 November 2016. Retrieved 2 November 2022.
  3. "Aston Villa Player Database". astonvillaplayerdatabase.com. Retrieved 28 October 2022.
  4. Profile neilbrown.newcastlefans.com
  5. "profile". nasljerseys.com. Retrieved 5 March 2012.
  6. Fielding, Rob (11 October 2022). "Port Vale one hit wonders: number twelve, Tony Betts". onevalefan.co.uk. Retrieved 11 October 2022.
  7. "Salem, Ore., Retailer Struggles to Stand Out in Athletic Shoe Business". accessmylibrary.com. Knight-Ridder/Tribune Business News. 20 June 1999. Retrieved 3 May 2009.
  8. Tony Betts at the English National Football Archive (subscription required)
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