John Archer (footballer) - Playing Career

Playing Career

Archer graduated through the Port Vale junior squad to sign as a professional in July 1958. He made his Third Division debut in the 1959–60 campaign under manager Norman Low. He scored twice against Wrexham in a 3–1 victory at Vale Park on 16 April 1960, finishing the campaign with three goals in six games. However he featured just four times on 1960–61, and was moved on to league rivals Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic on a free transfer in May 1961, then managed by Bill McGarry.

Bournemouth were pushing promotion, and finished in third place, three points short of promotion in 1961–62. They finished in fifth place in 1962–63, six points short of their target. A fourth place finish followed in 1963–64, four points shy of promotion. They then dropped to eleventh place in 1964–65 under Reg Flewin. Archer left the club following a further slip down the table in 1965–66 under Freddie Cox's stewardship. He scored 37 goals in 139 league games during his time on the south coast.

He then moved on to Ernie Tagg's Crewe Alexandra, who were aiming for promotion in the Fourth Division. The "Railwaymen" finished fifth in 1966–67, four points short of promotion. Archer was finally promoted in 1967–68, as Crewe finished in fourth place, ahead of Bradford City by just one point. He was loaned out to Huddersfield Town in the 1967–68 campaign, and played nine Second Division games without scoring under Tom Johnston.

Archer remained in the Fourth Division after putting pen to paper with Jimmy McGuigan's Chesterfield. After finishing just one place and two points above the re-election zone in 1968–69, the "Spireites" topped the division in 1969–70. They then finished fifth in 1970–71, nine points short of a second successive promotion. Archer retired after the club finished in mid-table in 1971–72. He played a total of 129 games for Chesterfield, scoring 24 goals.