Frank Jackson Latimer (3 October 1923 – November 1994) 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 le ...

who made over 170 appearances as a

utility player In sports, a utility player is one who can play several positions competently. Sports in which the term is often used include association football, American football, baseball, rugby union, rugby league, softball, ice hockey, and water polo. The ...

in the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

for

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings whi ...

Club career

Brentford

A defender, Latimer was signed by

in November 1945 from non-League club Snowdown Colliery Welfare. He played in the

reserve team In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players under contract to a club but who do not normally play in matches for the first team. Reserve teams often include back-up players from the first team, young players who need playing time to i ...

during the 1945–46 and 1946–47 seasons and made his professional debut at the end of the latter campaign, in a 1–0 defeat to

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

Griffin Park Griffin Park was a football ground in Brentford in the London Borough of Hounslow, England. It was the home ground of Brentford F.C. from its opening in September 1904 to August 2020. The ground is in a predominantly residential area and was ...

on 26 May 1947, which condemned the Bees to relegation from the First Division. Latimer began the 1947–48

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 ...

season as a first choice at the back, but was dropped in December 1947 and failed to appear again until September 1949, when he regained his place in the team. Latimer found himself dropped again in January 1951 and failed to appear for over a year, before managing five appearances in the second half of the 1951–52 season. Latimer made 33 appearances during the 1952–53 season and was pressed into service as an inside left during the latter part of the campaign. He scored his only goals for the club within the space of a week in March 1953, with two in a 3–2 win over Leicester City and a consolation in a 4–1 defeat to West Ham United. Latimer made a career-high 39 appearances during the 1953–54 season, playing

left back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

in a disastrous campaign which ended with relegation to 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 on ...

. Latimer played on until the end of the 1955–56 season and played the final 10 games of the season as a centre half, with his final appearance for the club coming in a 2–2 draw with

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands County, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located north-west of Birmingham, east ...

on 31 March 1956. He made 186 appearances and scored three goals during his decade as a first team player with the Bees.

Non-League football

In 1956, Latimer dropped into non-League football and joined Southern League club Gravesend & Northfleet. He later returned to Kent League First Division club Snowdown Colliery Welfare.

Personal life

Latimer worked as a

miner A miner is a person who extracts ore, coal, chalk, clay, or other minerals from the earth through mining. There are two senses in which the term is used. In its narrowest sense, a miner is someone who works at the rock face; cutting, blasting, ...

before becoming a professional footballer and came to the attention of Brentford

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

Harry Curtis when he moved from the

Durham coalfield The Durham Coalfield is a coalfield in north-east England. It is continuous with the Northumberland Coalfield to its north. It extends from Bishop Auckland in the south to the boundary with the county of Northumberland along the River Tyne in the ...

to the

Snowdown Colliery Snowdown is a hamlet near Dover in Kent, England. It was the location of one of the four chief collieries of the Kent coalfield, which closed in 1987. The population of the village is included in the civil parish of Aylesham, Kent. As a result, ...

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

. Latimer returned to his trade after his retirement from football.

Career statistics

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Latimer, Frank 1923 births 1994 deaths Footballers from Sunderland English men's footballers Brentford F.C. players English Football League players Ebbsfleet United F.C. players Men's association football central defenders Men's association football inside forwards Southern Football League players Snowdown Colliery Welfare F.C. players Men's association football utility players Kent Football League (1894–1959) players