Derek Tapscott facts for kids

Derek Robert Tapscott (born June 30, 1932 – died June 12, 2008) was a talented Welsh professional footballer. He played as a forward, scoring many goals for his teams. Tapscott played for several clubs, including Barry Town, Arsenal, and Cardiff City. He also proudly represented the Welsh national team. Derek Tapscott is known as Cardiff City's sixth-highest goalscorer ever.

Derek Tapscott: A Football Legend

Early Life and Start in Football

Derek Tapscott was born in Barry. He was one of sixteen children in his family. Derek went to High Street Junior School. He left school when he was 14 years old.

After school, he worked as a delivery boy for a butcher. Later, he helped a TV repairman. At 16, he started learning to be a bricklayer.

In October 1950, Derek was called for national service. This meant he joined the army, specifically the Royal Engineers. Even so, he often got permission to play for Barry Town on weekends. He even became a corporal during his service. He served alongside Jim Fotheringham, who would later be his teammate at Arsenal.

Playing for Top Clubs

Time at Arsenal

Tapscott played for Barry Town as a young player. He was still working as a bricklayer then. In October 1953, Arsenal signed him for £4,000. This happened after he had a trial with Arsenal's rivals, Tottenham Hotspur.

He started really well in Arsenal's reserve team. He scored thirteen goals in just fifteen matches. His great performance led to his first team debut. He played against Liverpool on April 10, 1954, and scored two goals! He scored five more goals in his next five games that season.

Derek became a regular player in the next season (1954–55). He only missed five matches. Even though he wasn't always a main striker, he was Arsenal's top goal scorer. He scored 21 goals in the 1955–56 season and 27 goals in the 1956–57 season.

His strong play for Arsenal also earned him a spot on a special London XI team. This team won 1-0 against a Basel team in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup in 1956.

Tapscott played in Manchester United's last home game before the sad Munich air disaster in February 1958. Arsenal won that game 5-4. Derek later said it was "the best I ever played in." He got injured while playing for Wales. This injury kept him out of Arsenal's main team. When he got better, it was hard to get his spot back from Vic Groves. So, he left Arsenal in September 1958. He had scored 68 goals in 132 matches for Arsenal.

Success with Cardiff City

Derek joined Cardiff City for £10,000. He made his first appearance in a 4–1 win against Grimsby Town. Cardiff was managed by Bill Jones, who had also been his manager at Barry Town.

Cardiff won promotion back to the top league, the First Division, in 1960. Tapscott formed a great partnership with his old Arsenal teammate, Brian Walsh. Derek also holds a record for Cardiff City. He scored six goals in one game! This was during a huge 16–0 win over Knighton Town in the Welsh Cup.

Tapscott was also part of the Cardiff team that played in their first ever European competition. They reached the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup. He even scored the winning goal against Sporting Clube de Portugal in one round. His last game for Cardiff was on February 6, 1965. He was injured and missed the rest of the season. He left the club at the end of that season.

In total, Tapscott scored 102 goals in 234 games for Cardiff City. This makes him the club's sixth-highest goalscorer of all time.

Later Career

After leaving Cardiff, Derek had offers from other clubs. But he wanted to stay near his home in Cardiff. So, he signed with Newport County. He played 15 times for them, scoring one goal.

He then moved to non-league football. He played for Cinderford Town, Haverfordwest County, and Carmarthen Town. He finally retired from playing football in 1970.

Playing for Wales

Derek Tapscott made his debut for the Wales squad very early in his career. He had only played one game for Arsenal's first team. On May 9, 1954, he played his first game for Wales. It was a 2–0 loss to Austria in Vienna.

He played in nine games in a row for Wales between 1954 and 1956. He scored his first international goal against England on October 22, 1955. Wales won that game 2–1. He was recalled to the Wales squad after the 1958 World Cup. He scored in the last two matches of the 1959 British Home Championship. These goals were against England and Northern Ireland. In total, Derek Tapscott played 14 times for Wales and scored four goals.

International Goals

Results list Wales' goal tally first.

Goal	Date	Venue	Opponent	Result	Competition
1.	22 October 1955	Ninian Park, Cardiff, Wales	England	2–1	1956 British Home Championship
2.	23 November 1955	Racecourse Ground, Wrexham, Wales	Austria	1–2	Friendly
3.	26 November 1958	Villa Park, Birmingham, England	England	2–2	1959 British Home Championship
4.	22 April 1959	Racecourse Ground, Wrexham, Wales	Northern Ireland	1–4	1959 British Home Championship

Life After Football

After retiring from playing, Derek Tapscott started a business career. He worked in the sports equipment industry. He worked for companies like Gola and Diadora. He retired from this work in 1997.

In 2004, Derek wrote his own life story. The book was called Tappy: From Barry Town to Arsenal, Cardiff City and Beyond.

Derek Tapscott passed away on June 12, 2008. He left behind his wife, Glenys, two daughters, and three grandchildren. In 2012, his old team, Barry Town, added him to their Hall of Fame. This honored his great contributions to the club.

Honours

Club

Cardiff City

• Welsh Cup: 1959

Individual

• Barry Town Hall of Fame: 2012