OBITUARY: Geoff Martin (1940-2021)

The club was saddened to hear that another of our ‘stars of the sixties’, Geoff Martin, passed away recently.  He was 81.

The left winger joined Reds from neighbours Carlisle United in December 1962 and would spend five seasons at Borough Park, becoming a key player in Ken Furphy’s 1963-64 promotion winning team.

Born in Tupton, Derbyshire, Geoff started his career at Chesterfield then had brief spells with Leeds United, Darlington and Carlisle United before becoming a Workington player in an exchange deal which saw fellow left winger, Frank Kirkup, move in the opposite direction.

His Leeds United debut was against Chesterfield, he made his Carlisle bow against Workington whilst his first Reds outing was against Chesterfield forming a quirky pattern when joining a new club.

The number 11 shirt became his personal property at Borough Park as the goal scoring winger became a Reds’ favourite.  He scored six goals for the team in his first season with a brace against Stockport County his first on home soil. 

Geoff scored against former club, Carlisle, in the 1963 derby in front of our record league attendance at Borough Park – 18,628, no less.

He scored twice in the 9-1 League Cup trouncing of Barrow, netted two more in the 3-0 giant killing of Norwich City then played in both matches against Blackburn Rovers and Chelsea as Reds progressed to the quarter finals of the ’64-65 competition.

The popular winger played 52 matches during the promotion campaign, missing just the one game.  In total, Geoff appeared for Reds 167 times scoring 34 goals in the process.

He was transferred to Grimsby Town in November 1966 for a fee in the region of £5k before ending his League career with first club, Chesterfield.  Our condolences go to Geoff’s family and friends.