John Townrow

John Townrow
Personal information
Full name John Ernest Townrow
Date of birth (1901-03-28)28 March 1901
Place of birth West Ham, London, England
Date of death 11 April 1969(1969-04-11) (aged 68)
Height 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)[1]
Position(s) Centre-half
Youth career
Fairbairn House
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1918–1927 Clapton Orient 253 (5)
1927–1932 Chelsea 130 (3)
1932–1933 Bristol Rovers 10 (0)
International career
1925–1926 England 2 (0)
Managerial career
Harrogate Town
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

John Ernest Townrow (28 March 1901 – 11 April 1969)[2] was an English professional footballer who played as a centre-half for Clapton Orient, Chelsea and Bristol Rovers in the Football League and for the England national football team.

Townrow was born in West Ham, now part of London, and attended Pelly Memorial School in the borough.[3] He won two caps for England's schoolboy team,[4] one of which came against Wales in 1915.[3]

He began his professional football career at the end of the First World War with Second Division club Clapton Orient. He remained with the club until 1927, and played 253 league games for them.[4] In April 1925 he won the first of his two international caps for England, in a 2–0 defeat to Scotland at Hampden Park.[5] Townrow is one of only two men capped by England at senior level while an Orient player, the other being Owen Williams.[6]

He joined Second Division rivals Chelsea in 1927, and went on to play 140 games for the club in all competitions and contribute to their promotion to the First Division in the 1929–30 season.[7][8] His playing career finished with one season at Bristol Rovers in the Third Division South, where he played alongside his younger brother Frank.[4][9]

Townrow was manager of Harrogate Town for a spell in the 1960s.[10]

  1. ^ "The lure of promotion. Clapton Orient". Athletic News. Manchester. 13 August 1923. p. 6.
  2. ^ "England players: John Townrow". englandfootballonline. 7 March 2016. Retrieved 23 June 2018.
  3. ^ a b Kerrigan, Colm (2002). "Boys at Play: Football in Elementary Schools" (PDF). Educate~. 2 (1). Institute of Education, University of London. Retrieved 13 January 2009.
  4. ^ a b c Joyce, Michael (2004). Football League Players' Records 1888 to 1939. Nottingham: SoccerData (Tony Brown). p. 262. ISBN 978-1-899468-67-6.
  5. ^ "England Player Profile John Townrow". englandfc.com. Archived from the original on 2 December 2008. Retrieved 13 January 2009.
  6. ^ "Orient Internationals". Leyton Orient F.C. 6 December 2008. Archived from the original on 5 December 2008. Retrieved 13 January 2009.
  7. ^ "Player Database". Chelsea. Archived from the original on 16 January 2009. Retrieved 13 January 2009.
  8. ^ "Chelsea". Football Club History Database. Richard Rundle. Retrieved 13 January 2009.
  9. ^ "Match Report". Swindon-Town-FC. Retrieved 13 January 2009. [dead link‍]
  10. ^ "History". Harrogate Town F.C. Retrieved 13 January 2009.