Leslie Daniel Canning (21 February 1926 – 30 June 2014) was a Welsh professional footballer. A

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting ...

, he made over 100 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 ...

during spells with

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 ...

, Swansea Town and

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...

and won promotion from the Third Division South twice in three years between 1947 and 1949 for Cardiff and Swansea.

Career

Canning was born in

Penrhiwceiber Penrhiwceiber is a small Welsh village and community (and electoral ward) in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf that lies south of the town Aberpennar and north of the village of Tyntetown, and is one of many villages that lies within the ...

. A goalkeeper, he began his career at local side Abercynon before signing for

at the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. At the start of the 1946–47 season, he began the season as backup goalkeeper before replacing George Poland after just two matches. He went on to keep 22 clean sheets in 38 league appearances during the remainder of the season, helping the club become

Division Three 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 ...

champions. He kept two further clean sheets in cup competitions to total 24 during the season which remains a club record. He continued as first choice goalkeeper the following season in Division Two but was allowed to leave the club in January 1949 to sign for their local rivals Swansea Town for £3,000. He spent two years at Swansea, competing with

Jack Parry Brynley John Parry (11 January 1924 – 20 January 2010) was a Welsh professional footballer. During his career he made almost 100 appearances for Swansea Town and 138 appearances for Ipswich Town Ipswich Town Football Club is a professio ...

to be first choice goalkeeper, winning the Division Three South title for the second time in his career during the 1948–49 season. In July 1951, Canning was sold to

for £2,000 but struggled to break into the first team, making just five league appearances, and left the club soon after, moving into non-league football.

Later life

Following his retirement from football, Canning began working as an apprentice toolmaker and went on to become an electronics engineer, designing military equipment. He also took up a number of other sports, including golf, snooker and darts.

Honours

Cardiff City *

Football League Division Three 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 o ...

champions: 1946–47 Swansea Town *

champions: 1948–49

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Canning, Danny 1926 births 2014 deaths Footballers from Pontypridd Welsh men's footballers Men's association football goalkeepers Cardiff City F.C. players Swansea City A.F.C. players Nottingham Forest F.C. players English Football League players