John William Rainford (11 December 1930 – 21 May 2001) 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 played as an

inside 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 ...

. He is best remembered for his 9 years 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 ...

with

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 ...

, for whom he made over 320 appearances. He was posthumously inducted into the Brentford Hall of Fame in 2015.

Club career

Crystal Palace

Born in

Camden Town Camden Town (), often shortened to Camden, is a district of northwest London, England, north of Charing Cross. Historically in Middlesex, it is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Camden, and identified in the London Plan as o ...

, Rainford began his career at

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 ...

club

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 signed his first professional contract in March 1949. Despite making his professional debut late in the 1948–49 season, he had a slow start to his

Selhurst Park Selhurst Park is a football stadium in Selhurst in the London Borough of Croydon which is the home ground of Premier League side Crystal Palace. The stadium was designed by Archibald Leitch and opened in 1924. It has hosted international footba ...

career and failed to appear at all during the following season and made just one league appearance in 1950–51. Rainford broke into the team during the 1951–52 season and made 34 league appearances and scored his first goal for the club. He scored seven goals in 28 appearances in the following season and departed in May 1953. Rainford made 67 appearances and scored 10 goals for the Eagles.

Cardiff City

Rainford moved up to the First Division to join

Cardiff City Cardiff City Football Club ( cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Dinas Caerdydd) is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1899 as R ...

in a £3,000 deal in May 1953. He lasted only a matter of months at

Ninian Park Ninian Park was a football stadium in the Leckwith area of Cardiff, Wales, that was the home of Cardiff City F.C. for 99 years. Opened in 1910 with a single wooden stand, it underwent numerous renovations during its lifespan and hosted fixture ...

and scored one goal in three appearances before departing in October 1953.

Brentford

Rainford dropped down 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 ...

to sign for

in October 1953 and was new manager Bill Dodgin's first signing for the club. He quickly established himself in the team and made 32 appearances during a disastrous 1953–54 season, which saw the Bees relegated to the Third Division South. Despite averaging just under 30 games a season, Rainford's career at

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 ...

didn't take off until the arrival of Malcolm McDonald as manager in May 1957. Playing at

, he provided many assists for prolific strikers George Francis and

Jim Towers Edwin James Towers (15 April 1933 – 16 September 2010) was an English professional footballer, best remembered for his time as a centre forward in the Football League with Brentford. He is the club's all-time leading goalscorer and in 2013 wa ...

and set a new club record for consecutive appearances, when he played 135 matches in a row between November 1957 and September 1960. For his service to the club, Rainford was given a

testimonial In promotion and advertising, a testimonial or show consists of a person's written or spoken statement extolling the virtue of a product. The term "testimonial" most commonly applies to the sales-pitches attributed to ordinary citizens, where ...

in May 1961, which he shared with

Ken Coote Kenneth Alexander Coote (19 May 1928 – 2 August 2003) was an English footballer. He is best remembered for his 14 years as a full back and utility player with Brentford, for whom he tops the all-time appearances list with 559 and was also ...

. Rainford's final season was the 1961–62 campaign and he departed prior to the club's relegation to the

Fourth Division Fourth or the fourth may refer to: * the ordinal form of the number 4 * ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971 * Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision * Fourth (music), a musical interval * ''The Fourth'' (1972 film), a Sovie ...

in May 1962. He made 324 appearances and scored 49 goals during just shy of 9 years at Griffin Park. Rainford received a second testimonial in 1986 and shared the £1,100 proceeds with Jim Towers.

Tonbridge

Rainford ended his career 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 ...

with Southern League club

Tonbridge Tonbridge ( ) is a market town in Kent, England, on the River Medway, north of Royal Tunbridge Wells, south west of Maidstone and south east of London. In the administrative borough of Tonbridge and Malling, it had an estimated population ...

, whom he joined on a free transfer late in the 1961–62 season.

Representative career

Rainford appeared for the Third Division South representative team in a match against their northern counterparts on 16 March 1955. In a televised game, he scored the opening goal in a 2–0 win for the South.

Honours

* Brentford Hall of Fame

Career statistics

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rainford, Johnny 1930 births 2001 deaths English footballers Crystal Palace F.C. players Cardiff City F.C. players Brentford F.C. players Tonbridge Angels F.C. players English Football League players Southern Football League players Association football inside forwards