Howard Milton Girling (24 May 1922 – 7 January 1992) was an English professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who played as an

outside forward Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

in the Football League for Brentford,

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building ...

and Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic.

Club career

Crystal Palace

, Girling signed for

in 1942, during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

. After hostilities ceased in 1945, he made 27 appearances and scored six goals for the

Third Division South The Third Division South of The Football League was a tier in the English football league system from 1921 to 1958. It ran in parallel with the Third Division North with clubs elected to the League or relegated from Division Two allocated to ...

club before departing in February 1947.

Brentford

Girling moved up the

pyramid A pyramid (from el, πυραμίς ') is a structure whose outer surfaces are triangular and converge to a single step at the top, making the shape roughly a pyramid in the geometric sense. The base of a pyramid can be trilateral, quadrilat ...

to rejoin First Division strugglers Brentford in February 1947, for whom he had previously guested during the Second World War. He made 15 appearances in what remained of the 1946–47 season and was unable to help the club from relegation to the

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

. He established himself in the team in the 1947–48 season, making 35 appearances. His appearance-count reduced over the next two seasons, so much so that he spent 1950–51 in the reserves, before leaving Griffin Park at the end of that season. Girling made 90 appearances and scored 10 goals in four years with Brentford.

Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic

In July 1951, Girling dropped down to the Third Division South to join Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic for a short spell.

Hastings United

Girling dropped into non-League football and ended his career with Southern League club Hastings United. A highlight of his time with the Us were two runs to the third round proper of the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

Career statistics

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Girling, Dickie 1922 births English men's footballers Crystal Palace F.C. players English Football League players Brentford F.C. players Footballers from Birmingham, West Midlands Brentford F.C. wartime guest players AFC Bournemouth players Hastings United F.C. (1948) players Southern Football League players 1992 deaths Southport F.C. wartime guest players Men's association football outside forwards