Gil Merrick
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Gilbert Harold Merrick | ||
| Date of birth | 26 January 1922 | ||
| Place of birth | Sparkhill, Birmingham, England | ||
| Date of death | 3 February 2010 (aged 88) | ||
| Place of death | Birmingham, England | ||
| Playing position | Goalkeeper | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1938–1939 | Birmingham City | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1939–1960 | Birmingham City | 485 | (0) |
| National team | |||
| 1951–1954 | England | 23 | (0) |
| Teams managed | |||
| 1960–1964 | Birmingham City | ||
| 1967–1970 | Bromsgrove Rovers | ||
| 1970–1973 | Atherstone Town | ||
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. |
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Gilbert Harold "Gil" Merrick (26 January 1922 – 3 February 2010) was an English footballer and football manager. Considered one of the best goalkeepers in the UK during the mid-1950s, Merrick was one in a long line of great Birmingham City keepers which included the likes of Johnny Schofield and Harry Hibbs. Merrick spent his entire career at Birmingham City, playing more than 700 times between 1939 and 1960. He made 170 appearances during the Second World War and 485 in the Football League following the end of the war. He won 23 caps for the England national team, and played in the 1954 World Cup. After retirement as a player, he managed the club for four years.
Birmingham City renamed the Railway Stand at their St Andrew's stadium the Gil Merrick Stand for the start of the 2009–10 season.
Merrick was born in Sparkhill, Birmingham. He signed professional terms with Birmingham in August 1939, and remained with the team until his retirement as a player in 1960. At first, Merrick was third-choice goalkeeper behind boyhood hero Harry Hibbs and Jack Wheeler. This meant that Merrick had to wait until 20 May 1940 to make his debut in the Birmingham first team, then playing in the Midland Regional League because of the Second World War. With the retirement of Hibbs, Merrick gained the chance to play more competitive football, and by the end of the war he had amassed 170 appearances for the "Blues", including an FA Cup semi-final against Derby County, which Derby won 4–0 after a replay.
When the Football League resumed in 1946, Merrick found himself playing regularly for the recently renamed Birmingham City. In 1948, Merrick helped the club win the Second Division Two, missing only six games along the way. He played regularly for the Blues until the end of the 1954–55 season, when another Blues prodigy, Johnny Schofield replaced him in goal because of injury. During this time, Merrick achieved 126 league games in a row, from 15 April 1949 to 5 April 1952. He also played in every FA Cup game during this time, another nine games, including an FA Cup semi-final appearance against Blackpool, which the Blues lost 2–1.
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