2021 deaths in association football

This is a list of people related to association football (players, managers, etc.) who have died in 2021:

## January

- January 1:
    - Bernard Guignedoux (73), footballer (Paris Saint-Germain, AS Monaco) and manager (Strasbourg, Valenciennes)
    - Clint Boulton (72), footballer (Port Vale, Torquay United)
- January 2:
    - Yuri Saukh (69), Russian footballer (CSKA Moscow, Lokomotiv Moscow, Soviet Union)
    - Miquel Ferrer i Aymamí (89), footballer (Barcelona, Real Oviedo)
    - Cléber Arado (48), footballer (Kyoto Sanga, Coritiba)
    - Ryder Mofokeng (68), footballer (Kaizer Chiefs)
- January 5:
    - Colin Bell (74), footballer (Bury, Manchester City, England)
    - Tyberii Korponai (62), footballer (Karpaty Lviv, Volyn Lutsk, Kremin Kremenchuk) and manager (Kremin Kremenchuk)
    - Brandãozinho (90), footballer (Palmeiras, OGC Nice, Celta Vigo)
- January 6:
    - Mircea Bolba (59), footballer (Olimpia Satu Mare, Steaua București, Politehnica Timișoara, Bihor Oradea, Evagoras Paphos) and manager (Olimpia Satu Mare, Arieșul Turda, Someșul Dej)
    - Ferdinand Kolarik (83), footballer (Admira Wacker, Austria)
    - Thanasis Papazoglou (67), footballer (Aris, PAS Giannina, Trikala, Greece)
- January 7:
    - Alex Apolinário (24), footballer (Cruzeiro, Alverca)
    - Cassim Louis (73), manager (Saint Lucia)
- January 8:
    - Otto Geisert (81), footballer (Karlsruher, Kaiserslautern)
    - Marian Kondratowicz (79), footballer (Odra Opole)
    - Wojciech Przybylski (81), footballer (Broń Radom) and manager (Polonia Gdańsk, Lechia Gdańsk, Al-Jaish)
- January 9:
    - Llorenç Rifé (82), footballer (Condal, Barcelona, Deportivo La Coruña)
    - Harry Brüll (85), footballer (Rapid JC, MVV, Fortuna '54, RKSV Sittardia, Netherlands)
- January 10:
    - Pedro Casado (83), footballer (Real Madrid, Plus Ultra, Spain)
    - Arthur Bramley (91), footballer (Mansfield Town)
    - Tosh Chamberlain (86), footballer (Fulham, Dover Athletic)
    - Avelino Chaves (89), footballer (Real Valladolid, Granada, Real Zaragoza)
    - Tony Gregory (83), footballer (Luton Town, Watford)
    - Christopher Maboulou (30), footballer (Châteauroux, Bastia, PAS Giannina)
    - Walter Taibo (89), footballer (Huracán, Peñarol, Uruguay)
    - Josep Antoni Noya (81), footballer (Sabadell, Atlético Madrid, Granada)
    - Bobby Kellard (77), footballer (Southend United, Crystal Palace, Portsmouth, Bristol City, Leicester City, England youths) and manager
- January 11:
    - Fabio Enzo (74), footballer (Roma, Cesena, Novara Calcio)
    - Gothard Kokott (77), footballer (Piast Gliwice, Raków Częstochowa), manager (Raków Częstochowa, Ruch Radzionków), and futsal manager (Clearex Chorzów)
    - Jean Kalala N'Tumba (72), footballer (Union Tshioto Saint Gilloise, Union Sud-Kasaïenne, TP Mazembe, AS Vita Club, Zaire)
- January 12:
    - Frank Arok (88), footballer (Jedinstvo) and manager (FK Novi Sad, St George Saints, Australia, South Melbourne)
    - Per Martinsen (84), footballer (Lisleby, Fredrikstad, Norway)
- January 14:
    - Aleksandr Borisovich Nikitin (59), footballer (FC Rotor Volgograd) and manager (FC Rotor Volgograd)
    - José Luis Caballero (65), footballer (Cruz Azul, Guadalajara, Mexico), won gold at the 1975 Pan American Games, played at the 1976 Summer Olympics
- January 15:
    - Vicente Cantatore (85), footballer (San Lorenzo, Tigre) and manager (Chile, Real Valladolid, Sevilla, Sporting CP, Real Betis)
    - Geoff Barnett (74), footballer (Everton, Arsenal, Minnesota Kicks) and manager
- January 16:
    - György Handel (61), footballer (MTK–VM, Rába ETO, Hungary)
    - Daan Netten (86), footballer (BVV, Den Bosch)
    - Sergei Rodin (39), footballer (CSKA Moscow, Anzhi Makhachkala, Sokol Saratov, Sportakademklub Moscow)
- January 17:
    - Roger Machin (94), referee (Ligue 1, FIFA)
- January 18:
    - Dani Shmulevich-Rom (80), footballer (Maccabi Haifa, Israel)
- January 19:
    - Zague (86), footballer (Corinthians, Club América)
    - Gustavo Peña (78), footballer (Cruz Azul, Monterrey, Mexico) and manager (Monterrey, Mexico)
    - Gordon Galley (90), footballer (Darlington)
- January 20:
    - Peter Swan (84), footballer (Sheffield Wednesday, England)
    - John Jeffers (52), footballer (Port Vale, Stockport County)
    - Luton Shelton (35), footballer (Sheffield United, Vålerenga, Jamaica)
    - Calixto Avena (77), footballer (Millonarios, Atlético Junior, Colombia)
- January 22:
    - Johnny Williams (73), footballer (Watford, Colchester United)
- January 23:
    - Abukari Gariba (81), footballer (Asante Kotoko, Ghana), played at the 1968 and 1972 Summer Olympics
    - Peter Gillott (85), footballer (Barnsley, Chelmsford City)
- January 24:
    - Jóhannes Eðvaldsson (70), footballer (Valur, Celtic, Iceland)
    - Barrie Mitchell (73), footballer (Dunfermline Athletic, Tranmere Rovers)
    - Ron Rafferty (86), footballer (Grimsby Town, Aldershot)
    - 2021 Palmas FR plane crash victims
        - Marcus Molinari (23), footballer (Tupi, Ipatinga, Tupynambás)
        - Guilherme Noé (28), footballer (Batatais, Rio Preto, Ipatinga)
        - Ranule (27), footballer (Itapemirim, Democrata, Resende)
        - Lucas Praxedes (23), footballer (Capivariano)
- January 25:
    - Maryan Synakowski (84), footballer (Sedan-Torcy, Stade Français, France)
    - David Bright (64), manager (Mogoditshane Fighters, Botswana)
- January 26:
    - John Mortimore (86), footballer (Chelsea) and manager (Portsmouth, Benfica, Real Betis, Southampton)
    - Osamu Yamaji (91), footballer (Sumitomo Metal, Japan)
    - Jozef Vengloš (84), footballer (Slovan Bratislava) and manager (Australia, Czechoslovakia, Sporting CP, Aston Villa, Fenerbahçe, Celtic)
- January 27:
    - Mehrdad Minavand (45), footballer (Persepolis, Sturm Graz, Iran), played at the 1998 FIFA World Cup
    - José Cruz (68), footballer (Motagua, Real España, Honduras)
- January 28:
    - John Grant (89), footballer (Hibernain, Scotland)
    - Yvon Douis (85), footballer (Lille, AS Monaco, France)
    - Chico Borja (61), footballer (New York Cosmos, United States) and manager
- January 29:
    - Eddie Connachan (85), footballer (Dunfermline Athletic, Middlesbrough, Scotland)
    - Roberto Frojuello (83), footballer (São Paulo, River Plate, Colo-Colo, Palmeiras, Brazil)
    - Varol Ürkmez (83), footballer (Beşiktaş, Altay SK, Turkey)
- January 30:
    - Joop de Klerk (72), footballer (NEC Nijmegen, VVV-Venlo)
    - Leslie Brown (84), footballer (Dulwich Hamlet, Wimbledon, Great Britain)
- January 31:
    - John Gibbons (95), footballer (Queens Park Rangers, Ipswich Town)
    - Justo Tejada (88), footballer (Barcelona, Real Madrid, Spain)