Frank Edward John Rankmore (21 July 1939 – 20 November 2022) was a Welsh 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 lea ...

who played as a defender for

Cardiff City Cardiff City Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It currently competes in , the third tier of the English football league system in the 2025–26 season following relegation. Founded in 1899 a ...

Peterborough United Peterborough United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third level of the English football league system. Peterborough United formed in ...

, and

Northampton Town Northampton Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Northampton, England. The team competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 1897, the c ...

. At international level, he made one appearance for the Wales national team.

Career

Rankmore was born in

Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...

and began his league career at

after joining the club from local side Cardiff Corinthians in 1957. He was unable to break into the first team, and his early time at

Ninian Park Ninian Park was a association football, football stadium in the Leckwith, Cardiff, 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 renovatio ...

was spent mostly in the reserve side. At the end of the 1959–60 season he was placed on the transfer list. However, when Danny Malloy left the club in 1961, Rankmore found himself promoted to the first-team, making 37 league appearances during his first full season but was unable to prevent the club slipping out of Division One. After one more season as a first-team regular, Rankmore found himself out of favour again following the arrival of

John Charles William John Charles (27 December 1931 – 21 February 2004) was a Welsh association football, footballer who played as a centre-forward or as a centre-back. Best known for his first stint at Leeds United F.C., Leeds United and Juventus FC, Ju ...

from

Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: People, characters, figures, names * Roma or Romani people, an ethnic group living mostly in Europe and the Americas. * Roma called Roy, ancient Egyptian High Priest of Amun * Roma (footballer, born 1979), born ''Paul ...

and was sold to

Division Three 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 Third Division become the fourth tier of English football. In 2 ...

side

for a fee of £10,000. Rankmore went on to appear over 200 times for Peterborough and was awarded his first, and only, cap for

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

when he played against

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

during a tour of

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

in 1966. In 1968, he was sold to local rivals

for £12,000, becoming the third Peterborough player to move to Northampton in the space of five months after Johnny Byrne and Jack Fairbrother, where he made over 100 appearances before injury forced him into retirement in 1971.

Personal life and death

Rankmore died on 20 November 2022, at the age of 83.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rankmore, Frank 1939 births 2022 deaths Footballers from Cardiff Welsh men's footballers Wales men's international footballers Wales men's under-23 international footballers Cardiff City F.C. players Peterborough United F.C. players Northampton Town F.C. players English Football League players Men's association football defenders