William Howard Radford known by his middle name Howard, is a former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper in The Football League

The Football League

The Football League, also known as the npower Football League for sponsorship reasons, is a league competition featuring professional association football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888, it is the oldest such competition in world football...

 for Bristol Rovers

Bristol Rovers F.C.

Bristol Rovers Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Bristol, that competes in Football League Two. The team plays its home matches at the Memorial Stadium, in the Horfield area of the city....

 for eleven years between 1951 and 1962.

Radford, who was born in Abercynon

Abercynon

Abercynon is a small village in the Cynon Valley in Mid Glamorgan, Wales. The unitary authority is now known as Rhondda Cynon Taff. It is composed of the village of Abercynon itself,Carnetown,Glancynon,Park View and Pontcynon. However, in recent years the sign to show motorists they are entering...

, began his playing career in the nearby village of Penrhiwceiber

Penrhiwceiber

Penrhiwceiber is a former Welsh coal mining village and community deep in the South Wales Valleys of Wales. Penrhiwceiber is situated in the Cynon Valley in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, it lies 1 mile south of the town of Mountain Ash...

. He was invited for a trial by Bristol Rovers in May 1951, and three months later he joined them on professional terms. He went on to make 244 League appearances for them before retiring from football in 1962.

Following his retirement he managed a number of public house

Public house

A public house, informally known as a pub, is a drinking establishment fundamental to the culture of Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. There are approximately 53,500 public houses in the United Kingdom. This number has been declining every year, so that nearly half of the smaller...

s, firstly the Checkers in Old Market

Old Market, Bristol

Old Market is a Conservation Area of national significance, to the east of the city centre in Bristol, England. Old Market Street and West Street form the central axis of the area, which is approximately bounded by New Street and Lawfords Gate to the north, Trinity Road and Trinity Street to the...

, then the Ring o' Bells in Coalpit Heath

Coalpit Heath

Coalpit Heath is a small village in the parish of Westerleigh, South Gloucestershire, England, south of Yate and east of Frampton Cotterell in South Gloucestershire.-Background:...

 and the Bishop Lacey Inn in Chudleigh

Chudleigh

Chudleigh is a small town in Devon, England located between the towns of Newton Abbot and Exeter.Chudleigh is very close to the edge of Dartmoor and bypassed by the A38 road in 1972. It began life as a small wool market town, though the nearby Castle Dyke is an Iron Age Hill Fort which demonstrates...

. Later on he worked as a steward in Chudleigh Conservative Club and as a security guard with British Aerospace

British Aerospace

British Aerospace plc was a UK aircraft, munitions and defence-systems manufacturer. Its head office was in the Warwick House in the Farnborough Aerospace Centre in Farnborough, Hampshire...

.