Henry Pringle (8 April 1900 – 8 January 1965) Access individual season statistics via Season Stats dropdown menu. 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 scored 60 goals from 292 appearances 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 ...

playing as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

for Lincoln City.

Football career

Pringle was born in Perkinsville, County Durham. He began his football career with Craghead United, and was briefly on the books of

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 ...

before returning to the north-east to play for Chester-le-Street Town. In 1922, Pringle joined Lincoln City. He made his debut on 26 August 1922 in a 3–1 defeat away to Halifax Town in the

Football League Third Division North The Third Division North 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 South with clubs elected to the League or relegated In sports leagues, promotion and ...

. Pringle finished the 1922–23 season as the club's joint leading scorer alongside Tommy Griffiths, though the pair scored only seven goals apiece. Two years later, Pringle was again Lincoln's top scorer, with 15 goals from League and

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 ...

games. In all, he remained with the club for twelve seasons, becoming the first player to play in more than 300 League and FA Cup games for Lincoln City, finishing with 64 goals from 315 games, and set a club record (since broken) of 292 appearances in

. He married the daughter of a director of the club. His playing style was described as that of "an enthusiastic team man, a hard working forager and provider for others, but never a great shot. His best displays have been given on heavy grounds, as apparently he experiences some difficulty in controlling a light ball." Pringle left Lincoln City in 1934 to become

Grantham Grantham () is a market and industrial town in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England, situated on the banks of the River Witham and bounded to the west by the A1 road. It lies some 23 miles (37 km) south of the Lincoln and ...

's first

player-manager A player-coach (also playing coach, captain-coach, or player-manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. A player-coach may be a head coach or an assistant coach. They may make changes to the sq ...

. As player, he scored on his debut in the Midland League, and played at least occasionally until 1940. As manager, he led the club to the First Round Proper of the

1935–36 FA Cup The 1935–36 FA Cup was the 61st season of the world's oldest football cup competition, the Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup. Arsenal won the competition for the second time, beating Sheffield United 1–0 in th ...

, and won the

Lincolnshire Senior Cup The Lincolnshire Senior County Cup is a football (soccer) competition for senior football clubs in Lincolnshire organised by the Lincolnshire FA. The competition can be traced back to the formation of the Lincolnshire FA at a meeting held at th ...

in 1937 for only the second time in the club's history. However, Grantham's financial problems meant he stepped down as manager at the start of the 1937–38 season, but stayed with the club as trainer for a further 14 years. During the 1950s Pringle acted as trainer for the

works team A works team (sometimes factory team, company team) is a sports team that is financed and run by a manufacturer or other business. Sometimes, works teams contain or are entirely made up of employees of the supporting company. Association footb ...

of Aveling Barford, the

-based manufacturer of

steamroller A steamroller (or steam roller) is a form of road roller – a type of heavy construction machinery used for leveling surfaces, such as roads or airfields – that is powered by a steam engine. The leveling/flattening action is achieved through ...

s. Pringle died in Grantham in 1965 at the age of 64.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pringle, Harry 1900 births 1965 deaths Footballers from Chester-le-Street English men's footballers Men's association football forwards Arsenal F.C. players Lincoln City F.C. players Grantham Town F.C. players English Football League players English football managers Grantham Town F.C. managers Chester-le-Street Town F.C. players Craghead United F.C. players