John Sewell (footballer)
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | John David Sewell | ||
| Date of birth | 7 July 1936 | ||
| Place of birth | Brockley, England | ||
| Playing position | Defender | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Bexleyheath and Welling | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1955–1963 | Charlton Athletic | 185 | (5) |
| 1963–1971 | Crystal Palace | 231 | (6) |
| 1971–1972 | Leyton Orient | 7 | (0) |
| 1972–1975 | St. Louis Stars | 58 | (4) |
| Teams managed | |||
| – | St. Louis Stars | ||
| – | California Surf | ||
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. |
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John David Sewell (born 7 July 1936 in Brockley, South London) is a former professional footballer who had a long career in the Football League, before continuing as player and coach in the North American Soccer League (NASL) during the 1970s. Nicknamed "The Duke", because of his good dress sense, Sewell also boasts the distinction of never having been booked during his English playing career & only once throughout his entire playing career.
As a young athlete, Sewell played fly-half at rugby and was twice selected to play for England Schools’ Under 15 team. On leaving school, he first became a sprinter with Blackheath Harriers, and then signed as a professional footballer for Bexleyheath & Welling in 1954.
A key man at centre-half in the Kent League team at Bexleyheath, Sewell was transferred to Charlton Athletic on 5 January 1955. Almost immediately, however, he spent two years in national service, and finally made his league debut for Charlton at right-half against Sheffield Wednesday in January 1957, a year in which the club struggled (and ultimately failed) to avoid relegation from the First Division. After not making the first team the following season, he was named again in the squad in December, 1958 – this time at full-back, a position he played for the rest of his career.
Sewell made 204 first team appearances for Charlton, scoring five goals, before signing for London rivals Crystal Palace on 25 October 1963. Between 1963 and 1971, he made 258 appearances for Palace, scoring nine goals, mainly from the penalty spot. He became club captain in 1967-68, when Alan Stephenson left to join West Ham, and in 1969, led Palace to the First Division for the first time in the club’s history.
In 1970, his last season with Palace, he scored his best remembered goal in the closing seconds of a Division One match against league leaders Leeds United. The visitors were a goal up when the ball came to Sewell, thirty yards from goal, who chose to hit a speculative lob back into the penalty area. The Leeds goalkeeper, Gary Sprake, caught the ball at his goal line, and then inexplicably dropped it behind him into his own net.
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