{{Short description|Scottish footballer (1943–2019)}} {{Use British English|date=November 2025}} {{Use dmy dates|date=November 2025}} {{Infobox football biography |name = Kit Napier |image = |full_name = Christopher Robin Anthony Napier<ref name=Hugman>{{Hugman|14380|accessdate=3 April 2017}}</ref> |birth_date = {{birth date|1943|9|26|df=y}}<ref name=Hugman/> |birth_place = Dunblane, Scotland |death_date = {{death date and age|2019|3|31|1943|9|26|df=y}}<ref name=ScotsmanObit/> |death_place = Durban, South Africa |height = {{height|ft=5|in=11}}<ref name=Carder181/> |position = Forward |youthyears1 = |youthclubs1 = Blackpool |years1 = 1960–1963 |clubs1 = Blackpool |caps1 = 2 |goals1 = 0 |years2 = 1963–1964 |clubs2 = Preston North End |caps2 = 1 |goals2 = 0 |years3 = 1964–1965 |clubs3 = Workington |caps3 = 58 |goals3 = 25 |years4 = 1965–1966 |clubs4 = Newcastle United |caps4 = 8 |goals4 = 0 |years5 = 1966–1972 |clubs5 = Brighton & Hove Albion |caps5 = 256 |goals5 = 84 |years6 = 1972–1974 |clubs6 = Blackburn Rovers |caps6 = 54 |goals6 = 10 |years7 = |clubs7 = Durban United |caps7 = |goals7 = |totalcaps = 379 |totalgoals = 119 }} '''Christopher Robin Anthony Napier''' (26 September 1943 – 31 March 2019) was a Scottish professional footballer who scored 119 goals from 379 appearances in the Football League playing as a forward for Blackpool, Preston North End, Workington, Newcastle United, Brighton & Hove Albion and Blackburn Rovers.<ref name=NB>{{cite web |url=http://www.neilbrown.newcastlefans.com/player/kitnapier.html |title=Kit Napier |work=UK A–Z Transfers |publisher=Neil Brown |access-date=29 July 2010}}</ref>
==Career== Napier was born in Dunblane and raised in West Linton, which was then in Peeblesshire. He was a nephew of Celtic player Tommy McInally. He played youth football with Linton Hotspur before joining Blackpool's ground staff straight from school and turning professional in 1960.<ref name=ScotsmanObit/> He played twice in the Football League before joining their arch-rivals, Preston North End, for the 1963–64 season. After a single appearance in the Second Division, and still only 20 years old, he moved on to his third club, Workington, newly promoted to the Third Division. He scored twice as Workington eliminated First Division Blackburn Rovers from the 1964–65 League Cup by five goals to one,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.football-league.co.uk/page/LeagueCup50th/LatestNewsDetail/0,,10794~1909536,00.html |title=1960's – League Cup 50th Vote |publisher=The Football League |access-date=29 July 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100122005548/http://www.football-league.co.uk/page/LeagueCup50th/LatestNewsDetail/0,,10794~1909536,00.html |archive-date=22 January 2010}}</ref> and scored the equaliser as his club earned a deserved replay against eventual winners Chelsea in the quarter-final.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://workingtonafc.com/newsarchive.aspx |title=News Archive 2007 |publisher=Workington A.F.C |date=25 November 2007 |access-date=29 July 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100823233924/http://workingtonafc.com/newsarchive.aspx |archive-date=23 August 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Workington Earn Replay |newspaper=The Times |date=26 November 1964 |page=4 |quote=... soon after the restart Napier equalized after good work by Martin and Moran. Then Workington really set the pace, and at times three Chelsea forwards were defending in the penalty area.}}</ref>
Such results, added to 25 goals from 58 League matches, attracted attention. In November 1965, First Division club Newcastle United paid £18,000 for Napier's services,<ref name=Carder181>{{cite book |first1=Tim |last1=Carder |first2=Roger |last2=Harris |title=Albion A–Z: A Who's Who of Brighton & Hove Albion F.C |date=1997 |publisher=Goldstone Books |location=Hove |page=181 |isbn=0-9521337-1-7 |name-list-style=amp}}</ref> but at the end of the season, having struggled to adapt to the higher level,<ref>{{cite web|last=Scott|first=Kenneth H|date=26 March 2021|title=Player Profile: Christopher 'Kit' Napier|url=http://www.toon1892.com/detail_player.php?id=560|access-date=29 July 2010|work=toon1892.com|publisher=Kenneth H Scott}}</ref> he returned to Division Three with Brighton & Hove Albion, for an £8,500 fee.<ref name=Carder181/> At Brighton he finally found some stability; of the six seasons he spent with the club, he was their top scorer in all but 1969–70,<ref>Carder & Harris, ''Albion A–Z'', p. 338.</ref> and helped them to runners-up spot in 1972. Though his club were promoted, Napier spent two further seasons in Division Three, with Blackburn Rovers. He then moved to South Africa, where he played for Durban United and then made a career in the motor trade.<ref name=Carder181/>
He died in Durban, South Africa, at the age of 75.<ref name=ScotsmanObit>{{cite news |url=https://www.scotsman.com/news/obituaries/obituary-christopher-napier-footballer-who-was-always-in-demand-in-the-lower-leagues-1-4901548 |title=Obituary: Christopher Napier, footballer who was always in demand in the lower leagues |newspaper=The Scotsman |location=Edinburgh |date=5 April 2019 |access-date=31 May 2019}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Napier, Kit}} Category:1943 births Category:2019 deaths Category:Sportspeople from Dunblane Category:Footballers from Stirling (council area) Category:Scottish men's footballers Category:Men's association football forwards Category:Blackpool F.C. players Category:Preston North End F.C. players Category:Workington A.F.C. players Category:Newcastle United F.C. players Category:Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. players Category:Blackburn Rovers F.C. players Category:English Football League players Category:Footballers from the Scottish Borders Category:Scottish emigrants to South Africa Category:20th-century Scottish sportsmen