Ronald William Herbert Powell (2 December 1929 – 25 May 1992) was a footballer who played as a goalkeeper in the Football League between 1948 and 1964, and who played over 500 senior games.[2][3]
He started with his home-town side Knighton Town, before transferring to Manchester City in November 1948,[4] although he did not make his league debut until the following season.[1] However, he only played 13 senior games for City in four years,[1] and in the summer of 1952 he joined Chesterfield.[4] All of his appearances for City came in the 1949–50 season, and he was in goals for the short period between the careers of Frank Swift and Bert Trautmann.[5]
Powell missed only two league games in his first season with Chesterfield, and he went on to make 471 league appearances for them, and 508 matches in total, in a 12-year career with the club.[citation needed] In 1958 his run of playing 284 consecutive league games for the club was halted when Gordon Banks played.[6] His playing career was ended in December 1964 following a car crash which killed his team-mate Ralph Hunt, and which also injured Doug Wragg and Peter Stringfellow.[7]