John Tennant (footballer, born 1939)

John Tennant
Personal information
Full name John Graham Tennant[1]
Date of birth (1939-08-01)1 August 1939[1]
Place of birth Darlington, England
Date of death December 1985 (1986-01) (aged 46)[1]
Place of death County Durham, England
Position(s) Goalkeeper
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1957–1959 Darlington 8 (0)
1959 Chelsea 0 (0)
1959–1962 Southend United 2 (0)
1962–1964 Ashford Town 50 (0)
– Canterbury City
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

John Graham Tennant (1 August 1939 – December 1985) was an English footballer who played as a goalkeeper in the Football League for Darlington and Southend United.[1][2]

Tennant was born in Darlington, County Durham, in 1939.[1] He made his debut for Darlington F.C. as a 17-year-old, in a 1–0 defeat away to Halifax Town in the Fourth Division on 19 April 1957. He played twice more in what remained of the season,[3] and made a further five appearances early in the 1957–58 season, conceding 14 goals.[3] Given a free transfer by Darlington, Tennant joined up with First Division club Chelsea in August 1959 for a month's trial,[4] during which he made five appearances for their Metropolitan League team.[5] The trial came to nothing, and in October he joined Southend United. In three years with the club, he played only twice in the Third Division and twice in the League Cup.[6] He then moved into Southern League football with Ashford Town,[7] and Canterbury City.[2][6]

Tennant died in County Durham in 1985 at the age of 46.[1]

  1. ^ a b c d e f "John Tennant". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 22 November 2016.
  2. ^ a b "John Tennant". Post War English & Scottish Football League A–Z Players Database. Neil Brown. Retrieved 22 November 2016.
  3. ^ a b Tweddle, Frank (2000). The Definitive Darlington F.C. Nottingham: SoccerData. pp. 53–54. ISBN 978-1-899468-15-7.
  4. ^ Pennington, Bob (18 August 1959). "Knight gets debut test". Daily Express. London. p. 12. Another give-away boy hoping to jump straight into the First Division is 20-year-old goalkeeper John Tennant, who reports to Stamford Bridge today for a month's trial with Chelsea. Fourth Division Darlington have given him a free transfer.
  5. ^ "1959–60 Metropolitan League". TheChels.info. Retrieved 22 November 2016.
  6. ^ a b "John Tennant". Southend United Football Club database. Robin Michel. Retrieved 22 November 2016.
  7. ^ "John Tennant player profile". www.nutsandboltsarchive.co.uk. Retrieved 30 June 2022.