Biography
Pacy Leeds-born left winger Roy Thornton Greenwood was an apprentice at Hull City who signed his first professional contract in October 1970. He waited a year for his first team debut, used as substitute by Terry Neill in the early part of 1971/72. After a handful of occasional appearances in the first team at the start of 1972/73, Greenwood got his first extended string of first team starts when he scored against Huddersfield two days before Christmas, staying in the first team until mid-March 1973. Roy closed the season with a brace in the last league game at Cardiff, and started 1973/74 as a first team regular – indeed, he missed only one first team fixture all season, a League Cup win against Stockport, and racked up twelve goals in all competitions including 3 goals in four games in October and the same feat two months later. Greenwood started 1974/75 in quiet form but when Terry Neill moved to Tottenham in mid-September Roy came alive with his now-regular feat, three goals in four games. He missed a month of football in November 1974 before returning to the first team and ending the season with a modest haul of five goals.
Greenwood started 1975/76 in reinvigorated form as he netted an August brace against Bristol City and a September brace against Preston in the League Cup. Two more goals against Plymouth at the end of November marked out Greenwood as one of the Second Division’s most dangerous and in-form wide men. It was therefore little surprise when divisional rivals Sunderland made a £120,000 bid for Roy in January 1976 that was accepted by John Kaye and the City board.
Greenwood slotted straight into the Sunderland left wing berth, replacing the experienced Ian Porterfield and scored his first goals for the club when he hit the net twice in a 3-0 win over Southampton at the end of March 1976. Promoted to the First Division, Greenwood remained a regular first choice for the Rokerites in 1976/77 until a January 1977 injury ended his season early. He returned to action for the relegated Sunderland in October 1977 and began a run of first team starts at centre forward that yielded four goals against Cardiff, Fulham, Bristol Rovers and Charlton – before a New Year’s Eve injury again ended his season early. He returned at the start of 1978/79 as a support player and in the snowy January of 1979 he transferred to First Division Derby, having made 58 first team appearances at Sunderland and scored nine goals.
Derby were battling relegation and Greenwood was immediately introduced to the first team. While he only managed one goal, in a 3-3 draw against Aston Villa, Derby did enough to swerve the drop and in 1979/80 Greenwood again started the season up front before injuries started to take their toll. At the end of February 1980 Greenwood moved to Third Division side Swindon Town and he debuted for the The Robins in April. Greenwood missed large chunks of the 1980/81 season but still managed 30 appearances and struck three goals in five league games during December and January. The 1981/82 season followed a similar pattern with Greenwood managing 25 appearances before he was transferred to Huddersfield Town in August 1982. In his fourth League start for the Terriers Grenwood suffered another season-ending injury and he only returned to the first team fold 14 months later with a loan spell at Tranmere and a handful of games for Huddersfield. He left Leeds Road in the 1984 close season and had a short spell at Scarborough before ending his playing days. After football he lived in Yorkshire and played golf.
Details
Nationality: England
Date/Place of Birth: 26 September 1952, Leeds
Hull City First Game: 29 September 1971, Swindon Town H (Division Two), 19 years, 3 days old
Hull City Final Game: 6 January 1976, Plymouth Argyle A (FA Cup Third Round Replay), 23 years, 102 days old
Clubs
Hull City (1970-1975), Sunderland (1975-1978), Derby County (1978-1980), Swindon Town (1980-1982), Huddersfield Town (1982-1984), Tranmere Rovers (1983, loan), Scarborough
Hull City Record
Career: 155 apps, 30 goals
Roy Greenwood| Season | LGE App | LGE Gls | FAC App | FAC Gls | FLC App | FLC Gls | EUR App | EUR Gls | OTH App | OTH Gls |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970/71 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1971/72 | 1 (6) | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1972/73 | 20 (1) | 3 | 4 (0) | 0 | 1 (0) | 0 | - | - | 3 (0) | 1 |
| 1973/74 | 42 (0) | 10 | 2 (0) | 0 | 4 (0) | 1 | - | - | 3 (0) | 1 |
| 1974/75 | 31 (1) | 5 | 3 (0) | 0 | 1 (0) | 0 | - | - | - | - |
| 1975/76 | 24 (0) | 6 | 2 (0) | 0 | 3 (0) | 3 | - | - | 3 (0) | 0 |