Colin Haywood Gibson was born in
Normanby, near
Middlesbrough in Yorkshire, on 16 September 1923. His father moved to south Wales to work in the docks, and Gibson was spotted by
Cardiff City playing football for a local team in
Penarth. He assisted Cardiff City to the
Third Division South title in 1946–47, before joining
Newcastle United, newly promoted to the First Division, in the 1948 close season for a £15,000 fee. Despite rarely missing a game, Gibson was one of eleven players "considered redundant" in January 1949, and despite interest from
Arsenal, whose manager
Tom Whittaker said that "Arsenal are always on the look-out for real footballers like Gibson", he signed for
Aston Villa for £17,500. He played for Villa for seven years, during which time he was
capped for the
Football League representative team against the
League of Ireland XI in May 1949 in a 5–0 win. and received his first recognition for England, at
"B" international level, a few days later against the
Netherlands A team, in a 4–0 win. He signed for
Lincoln City of the Second Division for a £6,000 fee in 1956, and a year later moved into
non-league football with
Stourbridge, where he ended his career. After his football career, Gibson remained in the
Stourbridge area where he was the landlord of several
pubs. He died in
Wordsley Hospital on 22 March 1992 at the age of 68 after a short illness. ==Notes==