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Richie Powling joined Arsenal as an apprentice at the start of the
1971/72 season and before turning professional won England Youth
honours. He made his debut in a 0-2 defeat at Queens Park Rangers in
October 1973 and also played the next match, another 0-2 defeat this
time at Highbury against Liverpool, but didn't feature again that
season. The following campaign Richie was a little more involved, making
eight appearances all at centre-half. His introduction had been gradual
and his progress steady. However, in the 1975/76 season Powling
established himself as a key member of the Highbury playing staff,
making twenty-nine appearances, more than any of the other more
established central defenders at the club such as Mancini, Simpson and
O'Leary.
While 1975/76 was not the happiest season for the Gunners, it
was certainly Powling's most successful. For much of the dogfight run-in
to the season's close he formed a sound partnership with Mancini, which
contributed to the club's successful battle against relegation. He even
scored his first goal in a 1-1 draw at Coventry City. However, Terry
Neil became manager in the summer of 1976 and the immediate arrival of
Pat Howard from Newcastle United pushed Richie down the pecking order;
and then when Willie Young joined from Spurs in the spring Powling's
chances seemed even more limited. He did, though, make twelve
appearances, three of them at left-back deputising for Sammy Nelson.
When the 1977/78 season started Young and O'Leary had established
themselves as the first choice central pairing and Richie seemed set for
a peripheral role until Neil moved him into midfield to play the
defensive holding position. He appeared in all of the first five games
and even scored twice, against Everton in a 1-0 win at Highbury and in
the next game, a 1-1 draw at Wolves. Unfortunately, Powling then
suffered a bad injury that kept him out of the game for the remainder of
the season. It proved to be the beginning of the end, for although he
stayed on Arsenal's books until the end of the 1979/80 season he never
fully recovered from his injury, or played again, effectively missing
nearly three seasons. Sadly, Richie was forced to retire from football
because of his injury after making fifty-eight league and cup
appearances, and scoring three goals. Since leaving the professional
game he has had a number of management positions in non-league football.
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