William Howard Radford (8 September 1930 – 21 January 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

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 ...

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 ...

for

Bristol Rovers Bristol Rovers FC is a men's professional football club in Bristol. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club is affiliated to Bristol Rovers W.F.C., whose team play in the FA Women's National Leag ...

for eleven years between 1951 and 1962. Radford, who was born in

Abercynon Abercynon () is a village and community (Wales), community (and electoral ward) in the Cynon Valley within the unitary authority of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. The community comprises the village and the districts of Carnetown and Grovers Field to ...

, began his playing career in the nearby village of

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

. He was invited for a trial by Bristol Rovers in May 1951, and three months later he joined them on professional terms. He went on to make 244 League appearances for them before retiring from football in 1962, including being part of their Third Division title-winning team in the 1952–53 season. Following his retirement he managed a number of

public house A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption Licensing laws of the United Kingdom#On-licence, on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the ...

s, firstly the Checkers in Old Market, then the Ring o' Bells in

Coalpit Heath Coalpit Heath is a small village in the civil parish of Westerleigh and Coalpit Heath, in the South Gloucestershire district, in the ceremonial county of Gloucestershire, England, south of Yate and east of Frampton Cotterell. Background D ...

and the Bishop Lacey Inn in

Chudleigh Chudleigh () is an ancient wool town located within the Teignbridge District Council area of Devon, England; it is sited between Newton Abbot and Exeter. The electoral ward with the same name had a population of 5,919 at the 2021 United Kingdo ...

. Later on he worked as a steward in Chudleigh Conservative Club and as a security guard with

British Aerospace British Aerospace plc (BAe) was a British aircraft manufacturer, aircraft, munitions and defence-systems manufacturer that was formed in 1977. Its head office was at Warwick House in the Farnborough Aerospace Centre in Farnborough, Hampshire. ...

. Radford suffered a major stroke in October 2021 and was discharged from hospital in December of the same year. On 22 January 2022, Bristol Rovers reported that Radford had died the previous day, at the age of 91. At the time of his death Radford was the second oldest surviving player to have played for the club.

References

1930 births 2022 deaths Sportspeople from Abercynon Footballers from Rhondda Cynon Taf Welsh men's footballers Men's association football goalkeepers Bristol Rovers F.C. players English Football League players {{Wales-footy-goalkeeper-stub