Garland was born on 24 April 1949 in Ashton Gate, Bristol, England, the second son of Grace and George William Henry, a factory worker and lorry driver respectively.
[2] Ford was sacked early in the 1967–68 campaign, and caretaker-manager Les Bardsley made wholesale changes to the first eleven, including a recall for Garland.
[2] Garland formed an effective strike partnership with big target man John Galley in the 1968–69 and 1969–70 seasons, and was linked with moves away to bigger clubs.
[2] On 8 April 1970, Garland won his only international cap, for England under-23 in a 4–1 win over Bulgaria at Home Park; he was a substitute for Paul Edwards.
He was signed as a squad player and found first team opportunities limited, especially after spending a month out injured following a bad tackle from Nottingham Forest's Barry Lyon.
[2] Garland finished as the club's joint top-scorer (with Peter Osgood) in the 1972–73 season with 11 goals, but Chelsea dropped to 12th in the league.
The 1973–74 campaign was worse for the club, as star players like Osgood, Alan Hudson and David Webb and management fell out, and they dropped to 17th place in the league.
He scored eight goals in ten matches, including a hat-trick in a 3–2 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers at Filbert Street on 22 March, to help the "Foxes" to finish three points above the First Division relegation zone at the end of the 1974–75 season.
He was one of three regular rotated forwards in the 1975–76 campaign, alongside Frank Worthington and Bob Lee, and City went on to finish seventh; he claimed another hat-trick in a 3–0 FA Cup victory over Sheffield United on 3 January.
Despite a tough end-of-season schedule City managed to pick up enough points to narrowly avoid relegation in 1976–77, with Garland scoring winning goals against Leeds United and Liverpool.
Dicks departed following relegation in 1979–80, and under Bob Houghton's stewardship they dropped immediately out of the Second Division in the 1980–81 campaign, with Garland again having limited involvement due to his knee and ligament injuries.
After relegation to the Fourth Division, Garland would go on to be re-employed by Bristol City manager Terry Cooper for the 1982–83 season, playing as a non-contract player until February 1983, when he retired.
During his time there he got his friend Ian Botham to play for the club and Yeovil won admission back into the Football Conference.