Henry James Counsell (10 April 1909 – January 1990) 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 as a defender. He made three appearances in the Football League Third Division North while playing for Nelson. He also spent several seasons in

non-league football Non-League football describes football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is specifically used to de ...

Biography

Harry Counsell was born in the town of Preston, Lancashire, on 10 April 1909 and attended Great Marsden School in Nelson before beginning his football career. He died in Burnley in January 1990, at the age of 80.

Playing career

Counsell started his career with

Chorley Chorley is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Chorley in Lancashire, England, north of Wigan, south west of Blackburn, north west of Bolton, south of Preston and north west of Manchester. The town's wealth came pr ...

in the Lancashire Combination. He moved to Football League Third Division North side Nelson for the 1929–30 season, but did not feature for the first team during the campaign. He made his Football League debut on 28 March 1931, deputising at right-back for the injured

Gilbert Richmond Gilbert Richmond (2 April 1909 – 14 March 1968) was an English professional footballer who played as a full back. He played in the Football League with Nelson and Burnley. Richmond was manager of Swedish club IS Halmia IS Halmia is a foot ...

in the 0–3 defeat away at Rotherham United. Counsell made two more appearances for the club, including the 2–1 win against Wigan Borough, which proved to be Nelson's final Football League victory.Dykes, p. 84 In May 1931, after ten years in the League, Nelson finished bottom of the division and failed re-election. Counsell stayed with the club as they joined the Lancashire Combination for the 1931–32 season, but left shortly afterwards. Upon leaving Nelson, Counsell signed for fellow Combination side Great Harwood. He stayed with the club for two seasons, helping them to 15th-place and 17th-place finishes, before transferring to Clitheroe in August 1933. Two years later, he joined Lancaster Town (again in the Lancashire Combination), where he ended his career.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Counsell, Harry 1909 births 1990 deaths Footballers from Preston, Lancashire English men's footballers Men's association football defenders Chorley F.C. players Nelson F.C. players Great Harwood F.C. players Clitheroe F.C. players Lancaster City F.C. players