| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Leonard Francis Townsend[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1917-08-31)31 August 1917 | ||
| Place of birth | Brentford, England | ||
| Date of death | August 1997 (aged 79–80)[1] | ||
| Place of death | Seaford, England[2] | ||
| Position | Inside right | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Isleworth Town | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1935–1937 | Hayes | 52 | (64) |
| 1937–1947 | Brentford | 33 | (12) |
| 1940 | →Plymouth Argyle (guest) | 7 | (10) |
| 1940–1941 | →Leeds United (guest) | 11 | (11) |
| →Belfast Celtic (guest) | |||
| 1946 | →Colchester United (guest) | 1 | (3) |
| 1947–1949 | Bristol City | 74 | (45) |
| 1949–1950 | Millwall | 5 | (1) |
| 1950–1952 | Guildford City | ||
| 1953–1954 | Ashford Town | 17 | (5) |
| International career | |||
| 1943 | Irish League XI | 1 | (1) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 1952–1953 | Hayes | ||
| 1954–1958 | Maidenhead United | ||
| 1958–1961 | Slough Town | ||
| 1964–1969 | Maidenhead United | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Leonard Francis Townsend (31 August 1917 – August 1997) was an English professionalfootballer who made over 110Football League appearances, either side of theSecond World War, forBrentford,Bristol City andMillwall as aninside right. He later became a manager innon-League football, servingHayes,Slough Town and in two spells,Maidenhead United. Townsend's achievements with Maidenhead United saw him inducted into the club's Hall of Fame in 2005.
Aninside right, Townsend joinedAthenian League clubHayes from Isleworth Town as a 17-year-old in 1935.[3] He had a prolific two seasons in front of goal for the club, scoring 64 goals in 52 appearances.[3] He departedChurch Road at the end of the1936–37 season.[3]
Townsend initially joined hometownFirst Division clubBrentford as an amateur during the second half of the1936–37 season and signed a professional contract at the end of the campaign.[4] He spent the1937–38 season in the club'sreserve team and scored 19 goals in his first 15London Combination appearances.[4] With the first team struggling in the First Division during the first half of the1938–39 season, managerHarry Curtis gave Townsend his professional debut for a match versusHuddersfield Town on Christmas Eve 1938 and he scored the winner in a 2–1 victory.[5] The subsequent signing ofTommy Cheetham limited Townsend's chances of making a breakthrough into the first team,[4] but he finished the 1938–39 season with four goals in five appearances.[5]
The break-out of theSecond World War in September 1939 sawcompetitive football suspended for the duration of the war.[4] During the war, Townsend scored 102 goals in 120 appearances,[4] a record which included fourhat-tricks and one double hat-trick.[6] He also guested for a number of clubs and returned toFootball League action in the1946–47 season,[4][7][8][9] scoring 9 goals in 33 games in a disastrous campaign, which saw the Bees relegated to theSecond Division.[5] Townsend departed Brentford in May 1947, after making 41 appearances and scoring 14 goals in competitive matches while atGriffin Park.[4]
Townsend and Brentford teammatesDai Hopkins andFrank Clack signed forThird Division South clubBristol City in June 1947.[1][4] He had a happy two seasons with the club, scoring 50 goals in 80 appearances and topping the Third Division South goalscoring charts in hisfirst season.[4][8] He formed a formidable goalscoring partnership withDon Clark, though the pair's exploits failed to bring any success in the league.[10][11]
Townsend joined Third Division South clubMillwall in July 1949 and made just five appearances and scored one goal during the1949–50 season.[1][12]
Townsend dropped intonon-League football and signed forSouthern League club Guildford City in 1950, a move which reunited him with his former Bristol City managerBob Hewison.[3] He departed the club in 1952, after helping the Sweeney to two successiveSouthern League Cup finals.[10] His final season as a player came in 1953–54 withKent League clubAshford Town.[13]
While guesting for Belfast Celtic, Townsend appeared for theIrish League representative team in a match against theirLeague of Ireland counterparts on 26 April 1943.[14] He scored in the 2–2 draw.[15]
While a player with Guildford City, Townsend combined his playing duties with that of first teamcoach.[3]
Townsend returned to Hayes asmanager in 1952, taking over from former Brentford teammateGeorge Wilkins.[3] He presided over a mediocre 1952–53 Athenian League campaign, before being replaced by Wilkins.[3]
Townsend had a spell asassistant manager of Ashford Town during the 1953–54 season.[3]
Townsend was appointed manager ofCorinthian League clubMaidenhead United in 1954.[3] He presided over the first period of success in the club's history,[16] winning twoBerks & Bucks Senior Cups, the Corinthian League Memorial Shield and the league title in his final season with the club.[3][17] Townsend departed the Magpies in 1958.[3]
Townsend joined Corinthian League clubSlough Town as manager in 1958.[3] With a number of his former Maidenhead United players in his squad, Townsend had a frustrating time with the club, failing to challenge in the league and finishing as runners up in the Berks & Bucks Benevolent Cup in 1959–60, though he managed to win the Southern Combination Cup in 1958–59.[18] After finishing bottom of the Corinthian League in the 1960–61 season, Townsend was released as manager.[3]
Townsend rejoined Maidenhead United as manager in 1964.[3] Now managing at Athenian League Premier Division level, Townsend failed to manage the Magpies to success in the league, though he won his third Berks & Bucks Senior Cup with the club in 1966.[9] He resigned in 1969 and was honoured with a place in the club's Hall of Fame in 2005.[3] As of September 2014, Townsend's 473 matches in charge of Maidenhead is more than any other of the club's managers.[19]
Townsend served for six years with theDuke of Cornwall's Light Infantry during and after the Second World War.[3] After retiring from football, Townsend was a London-based sales representative for both Carborundum and Tex Abrasives before retiring in May 1982. Townsend lived inSeaford before his death in 1997.[2][10]
Maidenhead United
Slough Town
| Club | Season | League | FA Cup | Other | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Brentford | 1938–39[5] | First Division | 4 | 4 | 1 | 0 | — | 5 | 4 | |
| 1945–46[5] | — | 3 | 1 | — | 3 | 1 | ||||
| 1946–47[5] | First Division | 29 | 8 | 4 | 1 | — | 33 | 9 | ||
| Total | 33 | 12 | 8 | 2 | — | 41 | 14 | |||
| Colchester United (guest) | 1945–46[9] | Southern League | 1 | 3 | — | — | 1 | 3 | ||
| Millwall | 1949–50[12] | Third Division South | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | 5 | 1 | |
| Ashford Town | 1953–54[13] | Kent League | 17 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 4[a] | 3 | 24 | 11 |
| Career total | 56 | 21 | 11 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 71 | 29 | ||