John Atyeo - Biography

Biography

Peter John Walter Atyeo was born in Dilton Marsh, just outside of the town of Westbury, Wiltshire. As a schoolboy he excelled at football, rugby and cricket. His first competitive games were for Westbury United F. C., then Football League champions Portsmouth gave him two first team appearances in the 1950/51 season as an amateur, but he signed as a professional for Bristol City in the following season.

He enjoyed a fifteen year career with Bristol City despite offers from Chelsea, Spurs, Liverpool and AC Milan which were worth around £20 million in today's money and could have made him the most expensive player in England, making 645 appearances and became Bristol City's all time top scorer with 351 goals by the time he retired in May 1966. He captained the team during their promotion winning season in 1965.

Throughout that period he played as a part-timer, working firstly as a quantity surveyor and then training to become a teacher. Atyeo won six England caps from 1955 to 1957. It was conjectured that his part-time status led to his being dropped by the England selectors despite never having been on a losing side in his six international appearances, scoring five goals and having scored the goal that enabled England to qualify for the 1958 FIFA World Cup in Sweden.

Following his retirement from football, Atyeo became a full-time mathematics teacher at Kingdown School, Warminster, where he served for over 20 years, rising to head of mathematics. He was regarded as a dedicated teacher. Atyeo also wrote a regular football column for the Plymouth based Sunday Independent newspaper.

He died at home in Warminster of heart failure on 8 June 1993, survived by his wife Ruth and five children: Julie, Carol, Alison, Linda and Philip.