Brian Bedford (footballer)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Noel Brian Bedford (born Ferndale, Wales, December 24, 1933) is a former professional footballer. He played for many teams including Reading, Southampton, Bournemouth and QPR , as a centre forward.
After scoring 32 goals in 75 games for Bournemouth he was signed by QPR manager Alec Stock in 1959 for just £750 and made his debut for QPR in August 1959 in a 2-0 win against Swindon Town. He went on to play 258 league games for Rangers scoring a remarkable 161 goals (180 in all competitions) He is QPR's second highest goalsorer behind George Goddard. Unfortunately, despite being a prolific striker during his time at QPR they never managed to achieve promotion to the Second Division, the closest being third place in 1960-61 with Bedford scoring an impressive 33 in 44 league games that season.
Bedford was transferred to Scunthorpe United in August 1965 just as a young and dynamic QPR team was taking shape (they would cruise to the Third Division title and win the League Cup just two seasons later). After a short spell at Brentford he played briefly in the United States.On returning from the U.S however the Football Association banned him from playing as the U.S Football Association was at the time not affiliated.After a year he successfully appealed the ban but a knee injury forced him to retire.
After his retirement from playing he became a professional tennis coach and he was later the stadium manager at Loftus Road.
