Henry Pringle (8 April 1900 – 8 January 1965) Access individual season statistics via Season Stats dropdown menu. was an English 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 scored 60 goals from 292 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, it is the oldest football league in the world, and was the top-level football league in England from ...

playing as a forward for Lincoln City.

Football career

Pringle was born in Perkinsville, County Durham. He began his football career with Craghead United, and was briefly on the books of

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

before returning to the north-east to play for Chester-le-Street Town. In 1922, Pringle joined Lincoln City. He made his debut on 26 August 1922 in a 3–1 defeat away to Halifax Town in the

Football League Third Division North The Third Division North 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 South with clubs elected to the League or relegated from a higher division allocated t ...

. Pringle finished the 1922–23 season as the club's joint leading scorer alongside Tommy Griffiths, though the pair scored only seven goals apiece. Two years later, Pringle was again Lincoln's top scorer, with 15 goals from League and

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

games. In all, he remained with the club for twelve seasons, becoming the first player to play in more than 300 League and FA Cup games for Lincoln City, finishing with 64 goals from 315 games, and set a club record (since broken) of 292 appearances in

. He married the daughter of a director of the club. His playing style was described as that of "an enthusiastic team man, a hard working forager and provider for others, but never a great shot. His best displays have been given on heavy grounds, as apparently he experiences some difficulty in controlling a light ball." Pringle left Lincoln City in 1934 to become

Grantham Grantham () is a market town and civil parish in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England, situated on the banks of the River Witham and bounded to the west by the A1 road (Great Britain), A1 road. It lies south of Lincoln, England ...

's first

player-manager A player–coach (also playing coach, captain–coach, or player–manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. Player–coaches may be head coaches or assistant coaches, and they may make chang ...

. As player, he scored on his debut in the

Midland League The Midland Football League, officially known as the Capelli Sport Midland Football League since January 2025 for sponsorship reasons, is an English football league that was founded in 2014 by the merger of the former Midland Alliance and Midl ...

, and played at least occasionally until 1940. As manager, he led the club to the First Round Proper of the 1935–36 FA Cup, and won the

Lincolnshire Senior Cup The Lincolnshire Senior County Cup is a football (soccer) competition for senior football clubs in Lincolnshire organised by the Lincolnshire FA. The competition can be traced back to the formation of the Lincolnshire FA at a meeting held at ...

in 1937 for only the second time in the club's history. However, Grantham's financial problems meant he stepped down as manager at the start of the 1937–38 season, but stayed with the club as trainer for a further 14 years. During the 1950s Pringle acted as trainer for the

works team A works team, sometimes also referred to as factory team and company team, is a sports team that is financed and run by a manufacturer or other business, institution, or organization in a broad sense. Works teams have very close ties with thei ...

of Aveling Barford, the

-based manufacturer of

steamroller A steamroller (or steam roller) is a form of road roller – a type of heavy construction machinery used for leveling surfaces, such as roads or airfields – that is powered by a steam engine. The leveling/flattening action is achieved through ...

s. Pringle died in Grantham in 1965 at the age of 64.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pringle, Harry 1900 births 1965 deaths Footballers from Chester-le-Street English men's footballers Men's association football forwards Arsenal F.C. players Lincoln City F.C. players Grantham Town F.C. players English Football League players English football managers Grantham Town F.C. managers Chester-le-Street Town F.C. players Craghead United F.C. players 20th-century English sportsmen