Charles John "Tim" Rawlings (4 November 1932 – 28 September 2014) 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 ...

. A half-back, he made 231 league appearances in a 15-year career 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 ...

. He made the bulk of these appearances for

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 ...

in between 1956 and 1963, but also had six years without a game at

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was formed in 1878 and has pla ...

, and also spent two years at

Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in . Vale are the only English Football League club not to be named after a place; their name being a reference to the valley o ...

. He helped Walsall to win two consecutive promotions from 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 ...

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 ...

in 1959–60 and 1960–61.

Career

Rawlings played for Erdington Albion, before joining

in 1950. He spent six seasons at

The Hawthorns The Hawthorns is an all-seater association football, football stadium in West Bromwich, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England, with a capacity of 26,688. It has been the home of EFL Championship, Championship club West Bromwich Albion F ...

, but was not handed his First Division debut either by Jack Smith or

Vic Buckingham Victor Frederick Buckingham (23 October 1915 – 26 January 1995) was an English association football, football player and manager. He played for the then second division side Tottenham Hotspur F.C., Tottenham Hotspur. As manager he won the 195 ...

, and was instead allowed to leave the "Throstles" for

in 1956. The "Saddlers" finished 15th 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 on ...

in 1956–57 under the stewardship of John Love. New boss Bill Moore could only take the club to a 20th-place finish in 1957–58, which led them to become founder members of the

. They then posted a sixth-place finish in 1958–59, six points and two places outside of the promotion places. Walsall then topped the division in 1959–60 by a five-point margin, to win a place in the Third Division. Walsall then finished second in 1960–61, six points behind champions

Bury Bury may refer to: *The burial of human remains *-bury, a suffix in English placenames Places England * Bury, Cambridgeshire, a village * Bury, Greater Manchester, a town, historically in Lancashire ** Bury (UK Parliament constituency) (1832–19 ...

, to win a second successive promotion. The

Fellows Park Fellows Park was a football stadium in Walsall, England. It was the home ground of Walsall F.C. from 1896 until 1990, when the team moved to the Bescot Stadium. Fellows Park was situated about a quarter of a mile away from the club's present ...

club finished 14th in the

in 1961–62, before suffering relegation in 1962–63 due to their inferior goal average to 20th placed

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, south-east London, which compete in . Their home ground is The Valley, where the club have played since 1919. They have also played at The Mount in C ...

. In his seven years at the club Rawlings played a total of 201 league games, scoring five goals. Rawlings was signed by

manager

Freddie Steele Freddie Steele (December 18, 1912 – August 22, 1984) was a boxer and film actor born Frederick Earle Burgett in Seattle, Washington. He was recognized as the National Boxing Association (NBA) Middleweight Champion of the World between 1936 ...

for a £4,000 fee in June 1963. He made 22 appearances in the 1963–64 season, and played 14 games in the 1964–65 campaign, as the "Valiants" suffered relegation out of the Third Division under

Jackie Mudie John Knight Mudie (10 April 1930 – 2 March 1992) was a Scottish international footballer who played as a forward. He won seventeen caps for his country, helping the Scotland national team to qualify for the 1958 FIFA World Cup. Startin ...

. Rawlings was given a free transfer to Southern League side

Nuneaton Borough Nuneaton Borough Football Club is an English football club that is based in Nuneaton, Warwickshire. The men's 1st team competes in the , the seventh tier of English football. In 1889, Nuneaton St. Nicholas FC was the first team in Nuneaton t ...

in April 1965. He later turned out for hometown club Coleshill Town. He later worked for

Lucas Industries Lucas Industries plc was a Birmingham-based British manufacturer of motor industry and aerospace industry components. Once prominent, it was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was formerly a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. In August 199 ...

Career statistics

Source:

Honours

Walsall *

Football League Fourth Division The Football League Fourth Division was the fourth-highest division in the English football league system from the 1958–59 season until the creation of the Premier League prior to the 1992–93 season. Whilst the division disappeared in name ...

: 1959–60 *

Football League Third Division The Football League Third Division was the third tier of the English football league system in 1920–21 and again from 1958 until 1992. When the FA Premier League was formed, the division become the fourth tier level. In 2004, following the f ...

second-place promotion: 1960–61

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rawlings, Tim 1932 births 2014 deaths People from Coleshill, Warwickshire English footballers Association football midfielders West Bromwich Albion F.C. players Walsall F.C. players Port Vale F.C. players Nuneaton Borough F.C. players Coleshill Town F.C. players English Football League players Southern Football League players