Graham Vearncombe (28 March 1934 – 30 November 1992) was a

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 ...

international

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 ...

. A

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), 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 i ...

, he played his club football 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 ...

and was part of the Wales squad for the

1958 FIFA World Cup The 1958 FIFA World Cup was the 6th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in Sweden from 8 to 29 June 1958. It was the first and only FIFA World Cup to be played in a Nordic country. Br ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

Club career

Vearncombe 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 ...

. He made his professional debut for

in the final match of the 1952–53 season during a 2–0 loss to

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club (commonly referred to as simply Villa) is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club, founded in 1874, compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The team have p ...

. However, he made just 17 appearances during the next two years as he served as understudy to

Ron Howells Ronald Gilbert Howells (12 January 1927 – 29 December 2011) was a Welsh professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper. He was capped by Wales national football team, Wales and played in The Football Lea ...

before becoming the club's first choice goalkeeper during the 1955–56 season. At the end of the season he won the first of his

Welsh Cup The FAW Welsh Cup (), currently known as the JD Welsh Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a knock-out football competition contested annually by teams in the Welsh football league system. It is considered the most prestigious of the cup competitions ...

winners medals after beating Swansea Town 3–2 in the final. During the 1957–58 he shared the number one goalkeeper spot with Ken Jones before losing his place the following season to

, making just one league appearance on the final day of the season but did play in all but one of the sides games in

, beating Lovells Athletic 2–0 in the final. He would later regain his spot as number one goalkeeper before leaving the club in 1964, his last appearance in a 2–0 win over

Bangor City Bangor City Football Club () was a Welsh football club from the City of Bangor, Gwynedd. Founded in 1876, Bangor City have been founder members of the North Wales Coast League, the Welsh National League, the North Wales Combination, the W ...

to win his third Welsh Cup winners medal. He later went on to play for non-league side

Merthyr Tydfil Merthyr Tydfil () is the main town in Merthyr Tydfil County Borough, Wales, administered by Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council. It is about north of Cardiff. Often called just Merthyr, it is said to be named after Tydfil, daughter of K ...

Honours

Cardiff City *

Football League Second Division The Football League Second Division was the second level division in the English football league system between 1892 and 1992. Following the foundation of the FA Premier League, the Football League divisions were renumbered and the third tier ...

runners-up: 1959–60 *

winners: 1955–56, 1958–59, 1963–64 *

runners-up: 1959–60

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Vearncombe, Graham 1934 births 1992 deaths Footballers from Cardiff Welsh men's footballers Cardiff City F.C. players Merthyr Tydfil F.C. players Barry Town United F.C. players Wales men's international footballers 1958 FIFA World Cup players Men's association football goalkeepers English Football League players