PETER Rushworth – who featured in Cherries’ memorable FA Cup run in 1956-57 – died peacefully on November 8, aged 87.

Born in Bristol in 1927, Mr Rushworth grew up in Cheltenham where he attended the grammar school before beginning an apprenticeship as a mechanical draughtsman at Rotol Airscrews in Gloucester.

At school he played rugby, but at Rotol he started a football team with his fellow apprentices and they became very successful in the local business league.

After about four years, Mr Rushworth – determined to play professionally – one day stopped the trainer of Cheltenham Town FC outside their stadium and asked to join.

For two years he trained with the team while working at Rotol, and one day with the reserve team short he got his first game.

His professional career started in 1951 when he transferred to Leicester for £1,350, but was unable to break into the first team and returned to his parents’ home in Cheltenham two years later.

He was approached by Ted Bates to play for Southampton FC later that year, and accepted the offer, but as Mr Bates travelled back to the south coast to get approval from the board, Mr Rushworth was snapped up by Bournemouth and Boscombe AFC manager Jack Bruton.

He played at right-half, and started as Cherries saw off Burton Albion and Swindon Town in the first two rounds of the FA Cup in 1956.

They went on to knock out Wolverhampton Wanderers and Tottenham Hotspur before losing in the quarter-finals to Manchester United, the club’s best run in the competition.

He played 88 times for Cherries in Division Three (South) before moving to Salisbury in June 1957, where he helped them win the Western League in 1958 and 1961.

Mr Rushworth met his wife Gloria in Bournemouth through the dances at the Pavilion. They married in 1955 and had three children – Mark, Neil and Andrew – to whom he provided great encouragement throughout their lives.

Following his retirement from professional football he worked at BAC Hurn until it closed down in 1972, during which time he coached Bournemouth Poppies, Poole Town and Christchurch.

He then worked as a PE teacher at Homefield School on Iford Lane for 21 happy years, alongside fellow former Cherries players Sid Miles and Eric Wilkinson, before retiring in 1992.

Among his hobbies were golf, which he played alongside his wife at Parley Golf Club, and DIY.

Mr Rushworth, who lived in Christchurch for more than 50 years, is survived by his wife and sons, two grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.