Johnny Rainford

John William Rainford (11 December 1930 – 21 May 2001) was an English professional footballer who played as an inside forward. He is best remembered for his 9 years in the Football League with Brentford, for whom he made over 320 appearances.[3] He was posthumously inducted into the Brentford Hall of Fame in 2015.[4]

Johnny Rainford
Personal information
Full name John William Rainford[1]
Date of birth 11 December 1930
Place of birth Camden Town, England
Date of death 21 May 2001(2001-05-21) (aged 70)[2]
Place of death Hounslow, England[1]
Position(s) Inside forward
Youth career
1948–1949 Crystal Palace
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1949–1953 Crystal Palace 64 (8)
1953 Cardiff City 3 (1)
1953–1962 Brentford 299 (42)
Tonbridge
Total 366 (51)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Club career

Crystal Palace

Born in Camden Town, Rainford began his career at Third Division South club Crystal Palace and signed his first professional contract in March 1949.[5] Despite making his professional debut late in the 1948–49 season, he had a slow start to his Selhurst Park career and failed to appear at all during the following season and made just one league appearance in 1950–51. Rainford broke into the team during the 1951–52 season and made 34 league appearances and scored his first goal for the club. He scored seven goals in 28 appearances in the following season and departed in May 1953.[5] Rainford made 67 appearances and scored 10 goals for the Eagles.[5][6]

Cardiff City

Rainford moved up to the First Division to join Cardiff City in a £3,000 deal in May 1953.[5] He lasted only a matter of months at Ninian Park and scored one goal in three appearances before departing in October 1953.[3]

Brentford

Rainford dropped down to the Second Division to sign for Brentford in October 1953 and was new manager Bill Dodgin's first signing for the club.[3] He quickly established himself in the team and made 32 appearances during a disastrous 1953–54 season, which saw the Bees relegated to the Third Division South.[7] Despite averaging just under 30 games a season, Rainford's career at Griffin Park didn't take off until the arrival of Malcolm McDonald as manager in May 1957.[3] Playing at inside forward, he provided many assists for prolific strikers George Francis and Jim Towers and set a new club record for consecutive appearances,[3] when he played 135 matches in a row between November 1957 and September 1960.[8]

For his service to the club, Rainford was given a testimonial in May 1961, which he shared with Ken Coote.[3] Rainford's final season was the 1961–62 campaign and he departed prior to the club's relegation to the Fourth Division in May 1962.[3][9] He made 324 appearances and scored 49 goals during just shy of 9 years at Griffin Park.[3] Rainford received a second testimonial in 1986 and shared the £1,100 proceeds with Jim Towers.[10]

Tonbridge

Rainford ended his career in non-league football with Southern League club Tonbridge, whom he joined on a free transfer late in the 1961–62 season.[9]

Representative career

Rainford appeared for the Third Division South representative team in a match against their northern counterparts on 16 March 1955.[3] In a televised game, he scored the opening goal in a 2–0 win for the South.[3]

Honours

Career statistics
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Cardiff City 1953–54[2] First Division 3 1 — — 3 1
Brentford 1953–54[7] Second Division 29 2 3 1 — 32 3
1954–55[7] Third Division South 33 4 6 2 — 39 6
1955–56[7] 37 3 2 0 — 39 3
1956–57[7] 7 1 0 0 — 7 1
1957–58[7] 45 9 1 0 — 46 9
1958–59[7] Third Division 46 8 4 1 — 50 9
1959–60[7] 46 8 2 0 — 48 8
1960–61[7] 41 5 2 0 3 3 46 8
1961–62[7] 15 2 1 0 1 0 17 2
Total 299 42 21 4 4 3 324 49
Career total 302 43 21 4 4 3 327 50

References
  1. "Johnny Rainford". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 24 June 2015.
  2. Johnny Rainford at WorldFootball.net
  3. Haynes, Graham; Coumbe, Frank (2006). Timeless Bees: Brentford F.C. Who's Who 1920–2006. Harefield: Yore Publications. pp. 129–130. ISBN 978-0955294914.
  4. Wickham, Chris. "Kevin O'Connor and Marcus Gayle join others in being added to Brentford FC Hall of Fame". brentfordfc.co.uk. Retrieved 14 June 2015.
  5. "Johnny Rainford". Holmesdale Online. Retrieved 14 November 2014.
  6. "Appearances". Retrieved 14 November 2014.
  7. White, Eric, ed. (1989). 100 Years Of Brentford. Brentford FC. pp. 382–386. ISBN 0951526200.
  8. "Brentford Football Club Online – JOHNNIE RAINFORD". Archived from the original on 19 June 2001. Retrieved 26 December 2017.
  9. White 1989, p. 245.
  10. Griffin Gazette: Brentford's Official Matchday Magazine versus Crewe Alexandra. Quay Design of Poole. 6 April 1996. p. 20.
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