Wilf Grant
Encyclopedia
Wilfred Grant was an English
professional footballer who played as a forward
for Southampton
, Cardiff City
and Ipswich Town
.
and as a youth played for Morpeth Town before joining Newcastle United
as a trainee in 1937. His career was interrupted by the Second World War when he joined the Royal Air Force
. Towards the end of the war he signed professional papers with Manchester City
, but continued with the RAF. Whilst stationed at Wareham
he guested for Southampton
; as he had a brother working for Southern Railway
at Eastleigh
he was keen to remain in Hampshire
and after the cessation of hostilities Southampton bought him out of his Manchester City contract for £1,000.
game away to West Bromwich Albion
on 5 October 1946 on the left wing
, where he soon became settled, scoring a brace in a 5–1 victory over Plymouth Argyle
on 26 October. Manager Bill Dodgin
preferred him on the right, however, (where he replaced Billy Bevis
), teaming up with the ageing Bill Rochford
. This role was not to Grant's liking and his form slumped. Although he was transfer-listed in August 1948, he remained with Southampton for the next two seasons, used occasionally as replacement for Eric Day
. In 1948-49 he seemed settled back on the left before he lost his place to Bill Heaton. After a rather frustrating time, he joined Cardiff City
in March 1950 with Ernie Stevenson
coming to the south coast in exchange. In his four seasons at The Dell he made 64 appearances scoring 13 goals.
, manager Cyril Spiers
moved him to centre forward following the arrival of Mike Tiddy
, where his devastating turn of speed immediately produced instant rewards, with 14 goals coming in the 1950–51 season as Cardiff finished in third place in the Second Division. The following season Cardiff went one better finishing in second place, thus gaining promotion to the First Division
. During Cardiff's promotion season Grant was top scorer with 26 goals, the first 19 of which were at home. Shortly after Cardiff secured their place in the top flight, Grant's superb form earned him a call up to the England 'B'
team for a match against their French
equivalents on 22 May 1952. Unfortunately for Grant the match ended in a resounding 7–1 victory for the French which brought his international career to an end.
He spent two further seasons with Cardiff in the First Division where, jointly with Ken Chisholm, he was again top scorer in 1953-54 with 12 goals as Cardiff reached tenth place in the league table. After four and a half seasons at Cardiff City, Grant was sold to Ipswich Town
in October 1954 for a fee of £7,500. In his career at Cardiff, Grant made a total of 159 league and FA Cup
appearances scoring 67 goals.
's most expensive signing at £7,500. At the end of Grant's first season at Portman Road
, Ipswich were relegated to the Third Division South
. In August 1955 Duncan resigned and was replaced as manager by Grant's former Southampton team-mate, Alf Ramsey
. In 1955–56 Grant contributed 16 goals (including two hat-trick
s against Millwall
) as Town finished in third place, missing promotion by one point. Injuries and loss of form restricted Grant to 12 appearances in 1956–57 (at the end of which Ipswich were promoted as Champions). After three years with Ipswich, Grant (now 37) dropped out of the Football League
to join Llanelli
as player-manager.
First Division, Grant returned to Cardiff City where he spent four years as a coach, helping them back to the First Division in 1960. He was sacked during the 1962-63 season after a row with the board.
He then spent some time as a scout
for Bristol Rovers
before being appointed as manager
at Southern League Premier Division
Worcester City
in December 1971. After a year at Worcester he was replaced by Graham Newton
. His final managerial position was at Bromsgrove Rovers
(of the Southern League Division One North) who he joined in December 1974, but was sacked nine months later.
college. He died in Worcester on 17 July 1990 shortly before his 70th birthday.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
professional footballer who played as a forward
Striker
Forwards, also known as strikers, are the players on a team in association football who play nearest to the opposing team's goal, and are therefore principally responsible for scoring goals...
for Southampton
Southampton F.C.
Southampton Football Club is an English football team, nicknamed The Saints, based in the city of Southampton, Hampshire. The club gained promotion to the Championship from League One in the 2010–2011 season after being relegated in 2009. Their home ground is the St Mary's Stadium, where the club...
, Cardiff City
Cardiff City F.C.
Cardiff City Football Club are a Welsh professional football club based in Cardiff, Wales. The club competes in the English football pyramid and is currently playing in the Football League Championship. Cardiff City is the best supported football club in Wales, averaging approximately 22,500 for...
and Ipswich Town
Ipswich Town F.C.
Ipswich Town Football Club are an English professional football team based in Ipswich, Suffolk. As of 2011, they play in the Football League Championship, having last appeared in the Premier League in 2001–02....
.
Early career
Grant was born in BedlingtonBedlington
Bedlington is a town in Northumberland, to the north of the Tyne and Wear urban area. It lies north of Newcastle and southeast of the county town of Morpeth. Other nearby places include Ashington to the north northeast, Blyth to the east and Cramlington to the south.The parish of Bedlington...
and as a youth played for Morpeth Town before joining Newcastle United
Newcastle United F.C.
Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End and Newcastle West End, and has played at its current home ground, St James' Park, since the merger...
as a trainee in 1937. His career was interrupted by the Second World War when he joined the Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
. Towards the end of the war he signed professional papers with Manchester City
Manchester City F.C.
Manchester City Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Manchester. Founded in 1880 as St. Mark's , they became Ardwick Association Football Club in 1887 and Manchester City in 1894...
, but continued with the RAF. Whilst stationed at Wareham
Wareham, Dorset
Wareham is an historic market town and, under the name Wareham Town, a civil parish, in the English county of Dorset. The town is situated on the River Frome eight miles southwest of Poole.-Situation and geography:...
he guested for Southampton
Southampton F.C.
Southampton Football Club is an English football team, nicknamed The Saints, based in the city of Southampton, Hampshire. The club gained promotion to the Championship from League One in the 2010–2011 season after being relegated in 2009. Their home ground is the St Mary's Stadium, where the club...
; as he had a brother working for Southern Railway
Southern Railway (Great Britain)
The Southern Railway was a British railway company established in the 1923 Grouping. It linked London with the Channel ports, South West England, South coast resorts and Kent...
at Eastleigh
Eastleigh
Eastleigh is a railway town in Hampshire, England, and the main town in the Eastleigh borough which is part of Southampton Urban Area. The town lies between Southampton and Winchester, and is part of the South Hampshire conurbation...
he was keen to remain in Hampshire
Hampshire
Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...
and after the cessation of hostilities Southampton bought him out of his Manchester City contract for £1,000.
Southampton
He made his debut for the "Saints" in a Second DivisionFootball League Second Division
From 1892 until 1992, the Football League Second Division was the second highest division overall in English football.This ended with the creation of the FA Premier League, prior to the start of the 1992–93 season, which caused an administrative split between The Football League and the teams...
game away to West Bromwich Albion
West Bromwich Albion F.C.
West Bromwich Albion Football Club, also known as West Brom, The Baggies, The Throstles, Albion or WBA, are an English Premier League association football club based in West Bromwich in the West Midlands...
on 5 October 1946 on the left wing
Winger (sport)
In certain sports, such as football, field hockey, ice hockey, handball, rugby union, lacrosse and rugby league, the term winger is the name of a position. It refers to positions on the extreme left and right sides of the pitch . In American football and Canadian football, the analogous position...
, where he soon became settled, scoring a brace in a 5–1 victory over Plymouth Argyle
Plymouth Argyle F.C.
Plymouth Argyle Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Plymouth, Devon, that plays in Football League Two.Since becoming professional in 1903, the club has won five Football League titles, five Southern League titles and one Western League title. The 2009–10 season was the...
on 26 October. Manager Bill Dodgin
Bill Dodgin, Sr.
William "Bill" Dodgin was an English football player.Born in Gateshead, Dodgin played for Huddersfield Town, Lincoln City, Charlton Athletic, Bristol Rovers, Clapton Orient and Southampton, although his career was curtailed by the Second World War.After retiring as a player, he became coach and...
preferred him on the right, however, (where he replaced Billy Bevis
Billy Bevis
William Ernest "Billy" Bevis D.S.M. was an English footballer who played for Southampton as an outside right in the years either side of World War II.-Portsmouth:...
), teaming up with the ageing Bill Rochford
Bill Rochford
William "Bill" Rochford was a member of the Portsmouth team that won the 1939 FA Cup. He played over 100 matches for Portsmouth and for their south coast rivals, Southampton.-Playing career:...
. This role was not to Grant's liking and his form slumped. Although he was transfer-listed in August 1948, he remained with Southampton for the next two seasons, used occasionally as replacement for Eric Day
Eric Day
Eric Charles Day is an English former footballer who played his entire career of nearly 400 Football League games for Southampton. He was born in Dartford, Kent. During his career with the club, which lasted 11 years from 1945 to 1957, he scored 145 league goals, which placed him seventh on the...
. In 1948-49 he seemed settled back on the left before he lost his place to Bill Heaton. After a rather frustrating time, he joined Cardiff City
Cardiff City F.C.
Cardiff City Football Club are a Welsh professional football club based in Cardiff, Wales. The club competes in the English football pyramid and is currently playing in the Football League Championship. Cardiff City is the best supported football club in Wales, averaging approximately 22,500 for...
in March 1950 with Ernie Stevenson
Ernie Stevenson
Ernest "Ernie" Stevenson was a former English professional footballer.After playing for one of the clubs nursery sides, Stevenson began his career at Wolverhampton Wanderers but did not play league football for them for several years due to World War II...
coming to the south coast in exchange. In his four seasons at The Dell he made 64 appearances scoring 13 goals.
Cardiff City
Soon after his move to Ninian ParkNinian Park
Ninian Park was a football stadium in Leckwith, Cardiff, Wales. Until 2009, it was the home ground of Cardiff City F.C., who compete in the English Football League Championship...
, manager Cyril Spiers
Cyril Spiers
Cyril Henry Spiers was an English association football goalkeeper who played for Aston Villa and Tottenham Hotspur and later went on to manage at Football League clubs for twenty years.-Career:...
moved him to centre forward following the arrival of Mike Tiddy
Mike Tiddy
Michael Douglas "Mike" Tiddy is an English former professional footballer and manager.-Career:Born in Cadgwith, Cornwall, Tiddy joined Torquay United at the end of World War II but was forced to wait two years to play for the club while he finished his National Service...
, where his devastating turn of speed immediately produced instant rewards, with 14 goals coming in the 1950–51 season as Cardiff finished in third place in the Second Division. The following season Cardiff went one better finishing in second place, thus gaining promotion to the First Division
Football League First Division
The First Division was a division of The Football League between 1888 and 2004 and the highest division in English football until the creation of the Premier League in 1992. The secondary tier in English football has since become known as the Championship....
. During Cardiff's promotion season Grant was top scorer with 26 goals, the first 19 of which were at home. Shortly after Cardiff secured their place in the top flight, Grant's superb form earned him a call up to the England 'B'
England B national football team
England B is a secondary football team run occasionally as support for the England national football team. At times they have played other nations' full teams; they have also played matches against 'B' teams from other football associations...
team for a match against their French
France B national football team
The France B national football team is the senior national team of France that plays non-A matches against other nations in friendlies. In France, the team is usually called "France A dash".-Popularity and use:...
equivalents on 22 May 1952. Unfortunately for Grant the match ended in a resounding 7–1 victory for the French which brought his international career to an end.
He spent two further seasons with Cardiff in the First Division where, jointly with Ken Chisholm, he was again top scorer in 1953-54 with 12 goals as Cardiff reached tenth place in the league table. After four and a half seasons at Cardiff City, Grant was sold to Ipswich Town
Ipswich Town F.C.
Ipswich Town Football Club are an English professional football team based in Ipswich, Suffolk. As of 2011, they play in the Football League Championship, having last appeared in the Premier League in 2001–02....
in October 1954 for a fee of £7,500. In his career at Cardiff, Grant made a total of 159 league and FA Cup
FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's...
appearances scoring 67 goals.
Ipswich Town
At Ipswich he was manager Scott DuncanScott Duncan
Adam Scott Mattheson Duncan was a Scottish professional footballer and manager.-Playing career:Born in Dumbarton, Duncan was working as a law clerk when he joined his home-town club Dumbarton in 1906. He moved to Newcastle United in March 1908 for a fee of £150...
's most expensive signing at £7,500. At the end of Grant's first season at Portman Road
Portman Road
Portman Road is an association football stadium in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. It has been the home ground of Ipswich Town F.C. since 1884. The stadium has also hosted a number of England youth international matches, and one senior England friendly international match, against Croatia in 2003...
, Ipswich were relegated to the Third Division South
Football League Third Division South
The Football League Third Division South was a level of English professional football which ran in parallel to Third Division North from 1921 to 1958....
. In August 1955 Duncan resigned and was replaced as manager by Grant's former Southampton team-mate, Alf Ramsey
Alf Ramsey
Sir Alfred Ernest "Alf" Ramsey was an English footballer and manager of the English national football team from 1963 to 1974. His greatest achievement was winning the 1966 World Cup with England on 30 July 1966...
. In 1955–56 Grant contributed 16 goals (including two hat-trick
Hat-trick
A hat-trick or hat trick in sport is the achievement of a positive feat three times during a game, or other achievements based on threes. The term was first used in 1858 in cricket to describe HH Stephenson's feat of taking three wickets in three balls. A collection was held for Stephenson, and he...
s against Millwall
Millwall F.C.
Millwall Football Club is an English professional football club based in South Bermondsey, south east London, that plays in the Football League Championship, the second tier of English football. Founded as Millwall Rovers in 1885, the club has retained its name despite having last played in the...
) as Town finished in third place, missing promotion by one point. Injuries and loss of form restricted Grant to 12 appearances in 1956–57 (at the end of which Ipswich were promoted as Champions). After three years with Ipswich, Grant (now 37) dropped out of 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...
to join Llanelli
Llanelli A.F.C.
Llanelli Association Football Club is a Welsh semi-professional football club that plays in the Welsh Premier League for the 2010–11 season. The team has been based at Stebonheath Park since 1920, and as of 2009 is managed by Andy Legg....
as player-manager.
Coaching and management
After a year with Llanelli, during which his "astute management" helped them gain promotion to the Welsh Football LeagueWelsh Football League
The Welsh Football League is a club football league in Wales. Division One of the Welsh Football League is at Level 2 of the Welsh football league system, immediately below the national Welsh Premier League.The Welsh Football League's history stretches back to 1904 when the competition was first...
First Division, Grant returned to Cardiff City where he spent four years as a coach, helping them back to the First Division in 1960. He was sacked during the 1962-63 season after a row with the board.
He then spent some time as a scout
Scout (sport)
In professional sports, scouts are trained talent evaluators who travel extensively for the purposes of watching athletes play their chosen sports and determining whether their set of skills and talents represent what is needed by the scout's organization...
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....
before being appointed as manager
Coach (sport)
In sports, a coach is an individual involved in the direction, instruction and training of the operations of a sports team or of individual sportspeople.-Staff:...
at Southern League Premier Division
Southern Football League
The Southern League is an English football competition featuring semi-professional and amateur clubs from the South West, South Central and Midlands of England and South Wales...
Worcester City
Worcester City F.C.
Worcester City Football Club is an English football club based in Worcester, Worcestershire. The club are currently members of the Conference North and play at St George's Lane.-History:...
in December 1971. After a year at Worcester he was replaced by Graham Newton
Graham Newton
Graham Wilfred Newton is an English former footballer.-Playing career:Newton played for Wolverhampton Wanderers, Blackpool, Walsall, Coventry City, Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic and American side Atlanta Chiefs before returning to England to join Port Vale on a trial basis in November 1968...
. His final managerial position was at Bromsgrove Rovers
Bromsgrove Rovers F.C.
Bromsgrove Rovers F.C. were a non-League football club from the town of Bromsgrove in Worcestershire. The peak of the club's success was in 1993 when Rovers finished runner-up in the Football Conference...
(of the Southern League Division One North) who he joined in December 1974, but was sacked nine months later.
After football
He subsequently became a sports teacher at a WorcesterWorcester
The City of Worcester, commonly known as Worcester, , is a city and county town of Worcestershire in the West Midlands of England. Worcester is situated some southwest of Birmingham and north of Gloucester, and has an approximate population of 94,000 people. The River Severn runs through the...
college. He died in Worcester on 17 July 1990 shortly before his 70th birthday.
Honours
Cardiff CityCardiff City F.C.
Cardiff City Football Club are a Welsh professional football club based in Cardiff, Wales. The club competes in the English football pyramid and is currently playing in the Football League Championship. Cardiff City is the best supported football club in Wales, averaging approximately 22,500 for...
- Football League Second DivisionFootball League Second DivisionFrom 1892 until 1992, the Football League Second Division was the second highest division overall in English football.This ended with the creation of the FA Premier League, prior to the start of the 1992–93 season, which caused an administrative split between The Football League and the teams...
runners-up: 1951–52