Reg Swinfen

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Reg Swinfen
Personal information
Full name Reginald Swinfen [1]
Date of birth (1915-05-04)4 May 1915[1]
Place of birth Battersea, England
Date of death October 1996 (1996-11) (aged 81)
Place of death Crawley, England
Height 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)[2]
Position(s) Outside right
Youth career
– Coventry City
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
19??–1936 Civil Service
1936–1947 Queens Park Rangers 26 (5)
1947–1949 Yeovil Town (18)
1949–195? Tonbridge
– Crawley Town
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Reginald Swinfen (4 May 1915 – October 1996) was an English footballer who played as a forward or full back in the Football League for Queens Park Rangers either side of the Second World War.

Life and career[edit]

Swinfen was born in Battersea, London, in 1915.[1] He worked as a postman,[3] and by 1933 was playing football for the Civil Service club.[4] From there he joined Queens Park Rangers (QPR) of the Third Division South, initially as an amateur centre forward with considerable pace.[1][3] He turned professional in March 1936,[1] and made his first-team debut the following September, playing at inside right in a 2–1 win at home to Clapton Orient. He first scored during his fifth of seven appearances that season; playing at centre forward, he contributed a hat-trick in a 7–0 defeat of Newport County[5] Swinfen played three first-team matches in 1937–38, all at right half,[6] before making 18 appearances at right back in the first half of the 1938–39 season.[7]

During the war, Swinfen served in the Royal Air Force[8] and in the British Army of the Rhine.[9] When available, he played wartime football for QPR.[10] He made his final appearance in the Football League playing at left back in a 2–0 defeat at home to Bristol Rovers.[11]

In June 1947, Swinfen became Yeovil Town's record signing, for a fee reported as "in the region of £500"; the Western Morning News described him as "well-known as an amateur sprinter."[2] He was the club's top scorer in the 1947–48 season, with 18 goals in Southern League competition,[12] and moved in to another Southern League club, Tonbridge, in January 1949.[13] He remained a Tonbridge player until at least 1951,[14] and went on to play for other non-league clubs including Crawley Town.[15]

Swinfen died in Crawley in October 1996 at the age of 81.[1]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d e f "Reg Swinfen". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 26 June 2017.
  2. ^ a b "Yeovil Town. Swinfen signed from Q.P. Rangers". Western Morning News. 4 June 1947. p. 5.
  3. ^ a b The Clubman (22 February 1936). "'Postman's knock' means goals to this player!". Daily Mirror. London. p. 27. Not least among his qualifications is that he can do a hundred yards in just over evens.
  4. ^ "Civil Service 5 R.A.F. (Henlow) 1". Biggleswade Chronicle. 22 December 1933. p. 6.
  5. ^ Westerberg, Kenneth. "1936–37" (XLS). QPRnet.com. Ron Norris. Retrieved 26 June 2017.
  6. ^ Westerberg, Kenneth. "1937–38" (XLS). QPRnet.com. Ron Norris. Retrieved 26 June 2017.
  7. ^ Westerberg, Kenneth. "1938–39" (XLS). QPRnet.com. Ron Norris. Retrieved 26 June 2017.
  8. ^ "R's help local heroes". Queens Park Rangers F.C. 9 May 2013. Retrieved 26 June 2017.
  9. ^ Milne, Armour (17 November 1945). "Dynamo 'miners' get set for test no. 2". Daily Mirror. London. p. 4.
  10. ^ Rollin, Jack (2005). Soccer at War 1939–45. London: Headline. pp. 396–97. ISBN 978-0-7553-1431-7.
  11. ^ Westerberg, Kenneth. "1946–47" (XLS). QPRnet.com. Ron Norris. Retrieved 26 June 2017.
  12. ^ "Season 1947–48: First Team Goalscorers". Ciderspace. 7 January 2017. Retrieved 26 June 2017.
  13. ^ "Angels. There is promise of a revival". Kent & Sussex Courier. 14 January 1949. p. 6.
  14. ^ "It was merry holiday for Angels". Kent & Sussex Courier. 29 December 1950. p. 6.
  15. ^ Joyce, Michael (2004). Football League Players' Records 1888 to 1939. Nottingham: SoccerData. p. 253. ISBN 978-1-899468-67-6.
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