Frank Richardson (29 January 1897 – 19 May 1987 ) was an English

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 played 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

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...

Plymouth Argyle Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. As of the 2021–22 season, the team are competing in League One, the third tier of English football. They have played at Home Park, ...

Swindon Town Swindon Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club has played home matches at the County Ground sin ...

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, hav ...

and

Stoke Stoke is a common place name in the United Kingdom. Stoke may refer to: Places United Kingdom The largest city called Stoke is Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire. See below. Berkshire * Stoke Row, Berkshire Bristol * Stoke Bishop * Stok ...

Career

Richardson was born in

Barking Barking may refer to: Places * Barking, London, a town in East London, England ** London Borough of Barking and Dagenham, a local government district covering the town of Barking ** Municipal Borough of Barking, a historical local government dist ...

and played for the local club Barking Town before joining

in 1921. In his first season as a professional he scored 31 goals in 41 matches as Plymouth finished in 2nd place in 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 ...

which included a hat-trick on his debut. He signed for First Division

in March 1923 but only scored once as Stoke were relegated at the end of the 1922–23 season. He scored just twice in 1923–24 and was sold to

where he gain struggled in the top flight and he decided to return to the Third Division South joining

. He soon rekindled his goalscoring ability scoring 15 in 35 appearances in 1924–25 and then an impressive 18 in 19 in 1925–26 which also included 10 in 4

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 ...

matches. Midway through the season he joined

scoring 12 goals in the last 13 matches which saw the "Biscuitmen" win the Third Division South title. In 1926–27 he again had a good season in the cup scoring nine goals in ten, including the only goal in front of Reading's record crowd of 33,042 against Brentford. Reading reached the semi-final that year, losing out to Cardiff City. He left

Elm Park Elm Park is a suburban planned community in East London within the London Borough of Havering. Located east-northeast of Charing Cross, it is identified as a district centre in the London Plan with several streets of shops and a priority for ...

in the summer of 1930 having scored 55 goals in 103 matches. Frank then spent 1930–31 at Swindon scoring 11 goals in 39 matches and had a short spell at

Mansfield Town Mansfield Town Football Club is a professional football club based in the town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Stags', they play in a blue and ...

before deciding to retire. When Reading won promotion in 1976, 50 years after Frank achieved the feat in 1926, he was invited to celebrate with the team. Ten years later Reading won Division Three again, and Frank was invited back as the only surviving member of that team.

Career statistics

Source:

Honours

Reading *

Football League 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 ...

champions: 1925–26

References

External links

Plymouth Argyle career details Plymouth Argyle career detailsSwindon Town career details
{{DEFAULTSORT:Richardson, Frank English men's footballers Barking F.C. players Mansfield Town F.C. players Reading F.C. players Plymouth Argyle F.C. players Swindon Town F.C. players Stoke City F.C. players West Ham United F.C. players English Football League players 1897 births 1987 deaths Men's association football forwards Footballers from Barking, London