Bobby Cram

Bobby Cram

Personal information
Full name	Robert Cram
Date of birth	November 19, 1939
Place of birth	Hetton-le-Hole, County Durham, England
Date of death	April 14, 2007 (aged 67)
Place of death	Vancouver, Canada
Playing position	Right-back
Youth career
1955–1957	West Bromwich Albion
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps^†	(Gls)^†
1957–1968	West Bromwich Albion	141	(25)
1968	Vancouver Royals	32	(2)
1969	Eintracht Vancouver
1970–1972	Colchester United	100	(4)
1972–1974	Bath City	15	(0)
1974	Seattle Sounders	5	(0)
1974–1975	Bromsgrove Rovers
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (goals)

Robert Cram (19 November 1939 – 14 April 2007) was an English professional footballer.

Career

Born in Hetton-le-Hole, County Durham, Cram joined West Bromwich Albion as an amateur in September 1955, at the age of 15. He turned professional in January 1957, but did not make his debut until October 1959, in a 0-0 draw against Bolton Wanderers. He went on to make 163 appearances for The Baggies, including the 1966 and 1967 League Cup finals. He is perhaps most remembered for being the captain of the Colchester United team that beat Leeds United in the 1971 FA Cup, one of the greatest shocks in the competition's history. In 1968, he went on loan with the Vancouver Royals in the North American Soccer League. He returned to the NASL in 1974, this time with the Seattle Sounders.^[1]

International

In June 1972, Cram was one of five footballers with English League experience pre-selected by Canadian coach Frank Pike for the CONCACAF / FIFA World Cup Qualifiers Germany 1974. Just two months later, however, neither Cram, Bob Lenarduzzi or Les Wilson were available to the Canadian team.

Personal

Cram died in Canada of a heart attack, aged 68, in April 2007.^[2] Bobby Cram was also the uncle of athlete Steve Cram.

Honours

Club

Colchester United^[3]

• Watney Cup Winner (1): 1971

References

1. NASL stats
2. Ex-Colchester captain Cram dies
3. "Watney Cup Honours". Coludaybyday.co.uk.