John Radford
Encyclopedia
For the Canadian broadcaster see John Radford (broadcaster)
John Radford (born 22 February 1947 in Hemsworth
, Yorkshire
) is a former English
football
player.
Playing mostly as an inside forward
or centre forward (and occasionally as a right-winger
), Radford spent most of his career at Arsenal
. He joined the club as an apprentice in 1962, turning professional in February 1964. He was a prolific goalscorer in the youth and reserve teams, before making his first-team debut against West Ham United
on 21 March 1964 (his only appearance of the 1964-65
season. Radford was used slightly more the next season, playing 15 times, and became Arsenal's youngest ever hat-trick
scorer, against Wolves
on 2 January 1965, at the age of 17 years and 315 days, a record that remains to this day.
By the start of 1965-66
Radford was an Arsenal regular, and particularly blossomed under the stewardship of Bertie Mee
; in 1968-69
, although he had been moved out to the right wing, he scored nineteen goals and reached the 1969
League Cup
final. As Radford peaked, so did Arsenal; in 1969-70
he again scored nineteen goals, and helped Arsenal win the 1970
Inter-Cities Fairs Cup
, their first trophy in seventeen years; Radford scored the second goal in Arsenal's 3-0 win in the second leg of the final, which they won 4-3 on aggregate.
By now, Radford had been moved up front again and continued to score regularly. The following season (1970-71
) Radford scored 21, his best single tally in a season, forming a partnership with Ray Kennedy
that between them recorded 47 goals. With his goals, Radford was an instrumental part of Arsenal's FA Cup
and League Championship
double
-winning side, and his assists played an important role too; Radford set up Kennedy for the winning goal in Arsenal's FA Cup semi-final replay win against Stoke City
, and set up both Eddie Kelly
and Charlie George
for their goals in the Final
against Liverpool
.
By now, Radford was an England
international, having already won four caps for the under-23 side. He made his full England debut in a friendly against Romania
on 15 January 1969. However, he was not a favourite of England manager Sir Alf Ramsey
and won only one further cap, against Switzerland
on 13 October 1971; Radford scored in neither match.
He continued to play for Arsenal through the early 1970s, scoring another 19 goals in 1972-73
. However, his goal rate gradually reduced (only achieving single figures in 1973-74
and 1974-75
) and he was injured in 1975-76
, further restricting his appearances. By now, the partnership of Malcolm Macdonald
and Frank Stapleton
had become Arsenal's first-choice attacking duo and Radford only played twice in the first four months of 1976-77
. Unable to stake a place in the side, Radford moved on to West Ham United
in December 1976 for £80,000. In all he played 481 times for Arsenal, scoring 149 goals, which makes him (as of 2011) Arsenal's fourth all-time top scorer.
After a year and 28 league appearances and no goals with the Hammers, Radford joined Blackburn Rovers
in 1977. He was moderately successful with the Second Division
side, scoring ten times in 38 league appearances. He left Rovers in 1978 and played for non-league Bishop's Stortford
before retiring. After retiring, he became a pub
landlord, and enjoyed several spells as manager of Bishop's Stortford in the late 1980s and early 1990s. He now also gives tours of Arsenal's Emirates Stadium
and appears as a football pundit on their TV station: Arsenal TV
.
John Radford (broadcaster)
John Radford is a Canadian broadcaster who briefly served as chairman of TVOntario.Radford was private broadcaster owning radio stations in eastern Ontario. Radford had served on the board of TVOntario for nine years before being appointed the broadcaster's chairman of TVO in May 1985 by the...
John Radford (born 22 February 1947 in Hemsworth
Hemsworth
Hemsworth is a small town and civil parish on the edge of West Yorkshire, England. It forms part of the City of Wakefield, and has a population of 13,311....
, Yorkshire
Yorkshire
Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...
) is a former English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
football
Football (soccer)
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...
player.
Playing mostly as an inside forward
Hole (football)
In association football, or soccer, the hole is generally referred to as the gap between a team's midfield players and its front strikers, particularly in a 4-4-2 formation resulting in a 4-4-1-1 formation. The gap might be filled through the employment of an attacking midfielder, or a deep lying...
or centre forward (and occasionally as a right-winger
Winger (sport)
In certain sports, such as football, field hockey, ice hockey, handball, rugby union, lacrosse and rugby league, the term winger is the name of a position. It refers to positions on the extreme left and right sides of the pitch . In American football and Canadian football, the analogous position...
), Radford spent most of his career at Arsenal
Arsenal F.C.
Arsenal Football Club is a professional English Premier League football club based in North London. One of the most successful clubs in English football, it has won 13 First Division and Premier League titles and 10 FA Cups...
. He joined the club as an apprentice in 1962, turning professional in February 1964. He was a prolific goalscorer in the youth and reserve teams, before making his first-team debut against West Ham United
West Ham United F.C.
West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Upton Park, Newham, East London. They play in The Football League Championship. The club was founded in 1895 as Thames Ironworks FC and reformed in 1900 as West Ham United. In 1904 the club relocated to their current...
on 21 March 1964 (his only appearance of the 1964-65
1964-65 in English football
The 1964–65 season was the 85th season of competitive football in England.-Overview:* After a three-way tussle for the League title between Manchester United, Leeds United and Chelsea, Manchester United came out on top and were crowned champions....
season. Radford was used slightly more the next season, playing 15 times, and became Arsenal's youngest ever hat-trick
Hat-trick
A hat-trick or hat trick in sport is the achievement of a positive feat three times during a game, or other achievements based on threes. The term was first used in 1858 in cricket to describe HH Stephenson's feat of taking three wickets in three balls. A collection was held for Stephenson, and he...
scorer, against Wolves
Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C.
Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club is an English professional association football club that represents the city of Wolverhampton in the West Midlands region. They are members of the Premier League, the highest level of English football. The club was founded in 1877 and since 1889 has played at...
on 2 January 1965, at the age of 17 years and 315 days, a record that remains to this day.
By the start of 1965-66
1965-66 in English football
The 1965–66 season was the 86th season of competitive football in England.-Diary of the season:7 October 1965: An experiment to broadcast a live game to another ground takes place...
Radford was an Arsenal regular, and particularly blossomed under the stewardship of Bertie Mee
Bertie Mee
Bertram "Bertie" Mee OBE was an English football player and manager, noted for managing Arsenal to their first Double win in 1971. He was the younger brother of fellow footballer Georgie Mee.-Early life:...
; in 1968-69
1968-69 in English football
The 1968–69 season was the 89th season of competitive football in England.-First Division:Leeds United won the League for the first time in their history, finishing six points ahead of Liverpool...
, although he had been moved out to the right wing, he scored nineteen goals and reached the 1969
1968 Football League Cup Final
The 1968 Football League Cup Final took place on 2 March 1968 at Wembley Stadium. It was the eighth final and the second to be played at Wembley. It was contested between Arsenal and Leeds United....
League Cup
Football League Cup
The Football League Cup, commonly known as the League Cup or, from current sponsorship, the Carling Cup, is an English association football competition. Like the FA Cup, it is played on a knockout basis...
final. As Radford peaked, so did Arsenal; in 1969-70
1969-70 in English football
The 1969–70 season was the 90th season of competitive football in England.-First Division:Everton won their seventh title, finishing nine points clear of Leeds United with Chelsea in third and newly promoted Derby County in fourth...
he again scored nineteen goals, and helped Arsenal win the 1970
Inter-Cities Fairs Cup 1969-70
The twelfth Inter-Cities Fairs Cup was played over the 1969-'70 season. The competition was won by Arsenal FC over two legs in the final against Anderlecht...
Inter-Cities Fairs Cup
Inter-Cities Fairs Cup
The Inter-Cities Fairs Cup was a European football competition played between 1955 and 1971. The competition was the idea of Swiss pools supremo Ernst Thommen, Ottorino Barassi from Italy, and the English Football Association general secretary Stanley Rous, all of whom later became senior officials...
, their first trophy in seventeen years; Radford scored the second goal in Arsenal's 3-0 win in the second leg of the final, which they won 4-3 on aggregate.
By now, Radford had been moved up front again and continued to score regularly. The following season (1970-71
1970-71 in English football
The 1970–71 season was the 91st season of competitive football in England.-First Division:Arsenal won the league championship at the end of a season which would soon be followed by their FA Cup final tie with Liverpool. Arsenal secured the league title at White Hart Lane, the home of bitter rivals...
) Radford scored 21, his best single tally in a season, forming a partnership with Ray Kennedy
Ray Kennedy
Raymond Kennedy is an English former football player who won every domestic honour in the game with Arsenal and Liverpool in the 1970s...
that between them recorded 47 goals. With his goals, Radford was an instrumental part of Arsenal's FA Cup
FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's...
and League Championship
Football League First Division
The First Division was a division of The Football League between 1888 and 2004 and the highest division in English football until the creation of the Premier League in 1992. The secondary tier in English football has since become known as the Championship....
double
The Double
The Double is a term in association football which refers to winning a country's top tier division and its primary cup competition in the same season...
-winning side, and his assists played an important role too; Radford set up Kennedy for the winning goal in Arsenal's FA Cup semi-final replay win against Stoke City
Stoke City F.C.
Stoke City Football Club is an English professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire that plays in the Premier League. Founded in 1863, it is the oldest club in the Premier League, and considered to be the second oldest professional football club in the world, after Notts...
, and set up both Eddie Kelly
Eddie Kelly
Edward Patrick "Eddie" Kelly is a Scottish former football player.Kelly played for local side Possilpark, before moving south to join English club Arsenal as an apprentice in July 1966; he turned professional 18 months later...
and Charlie George
Charlie George
Charles Frederick "Charlie" George is an English former footballer. He played as a forward in the Football League and he was also capped by England.-Arsenal:...
for their goals in the Final
1971 FA Cup Final
In the finale to the 1970-71 FA Cup season, the 1971 FA Cup Final was contested by Arsenal and Liverpool at Wembley on the 8 May 1971.Arsenal won 2–1 after extra time, with all three goals coming in the added half hour. Steve Heighway opened the scoring for Liverpool with a low drive past...
against Liverpool
Liverpool F.C.
Liverpool Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Liverpool, Merseyside. Liverpool has won eighteen League titles, second most in English football, seven FA Cups and a record seven League Cups...
.
By now, Radford was an England
England national football team
The England national football team represents England in association football and is controlled by the Football Association, the governing body for football in England. England is the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside Scotland, whom they played in the world's first...
international, having already won four caps for the under-23 side. He made his full England debut in a friendly against Romania
Romania national football team
The Romania national football team is the national football team of Romania and is controlled by the Romanian Football Federation.Romania is one of only four national teams, the other three being Brazil, France, and Belgium, that took part in the first three World Cups.However, after that...
on 15 January 1969. However, he was not a favourite of England manager Sir Alf Ramsey
Alf Ramsey
Sir Alfred Ernest "Alf" Ramsey was an English footballer and manager of the English national football team from 1963 to 1974. His greatest achievement was winning the 1966 World Cup with England on 30 July 1966...
and won only one further cap, against Switzerland
Switzerland national football team
The Swiss national football team is the national football team of Switzerland...
on 13 October 1971; Radford scored in neither match.
He continued to play for Arsenal through the early 1970s, scoring another 19 goals in 1972-73
1972-73 in English football
The 1972–73 season was the 93rd season of competitive football in England.-Overview:The Football League announced that a three-up, three-down system would operate between the top two divisions from the following season, rather than the traditional two-up, two-down system...
. However, his goal rate gradually reduced (only achieving single figures in 1973-74
1973-74 in English football
The 1973–74 season was the 94th season of competitive football in England.-First Division:Don Revie marked his last season as Leeds United's manager by guiding them to league championship glory, before taking over from Sir Alf Ramsey as the England national football team manager, with England...
and 1974-75
1974-75 in English football
The 1974–75 season was the 95th season of competitive football in England.- First Division :Dave Mackay guided Derby County to their second league title in four years having overcome strong competition from Liverpool, Ipswich Town, Everton, Stoke City, Manchester City, Sheffield United and...
) and he was injured in 1975-76
1975-76 in English football
The 1975–76 season was the 96th season of competitive football in England.- First Division :Liverpool won their first major trophy under Bob Paisley by narrowly winning the league title after heated competition from Queens Park Rangers. They also lifted the UEFA Cup for the second time in their...
, further restricting his appearances. By now, the partnership of Malcolm Macdonald
Malcolm Macdonald
Malcolm Ian Macdonald is a former English footballer nicknamed Supermac, famed for scoring goals for Luton Town, Newcastle United and Arsenal.-Football career:...
and Frank Stapleton
Frank Stapleton
Francis Anthony "Frank" Stapleton is an Irish former football player and manager. He is best remembered for his time at Arsenal, Manchester United and as a pivotal player for the Republic of Ireland...
had become Arsenal's first-choice attacking duo and Radford only played twice in the first four months of 1976-77
1976-77 in English football
The 1976–77 season was the 97th season of competitive football in England.-Overview:The Football League revamped the tie-breaking criteria for teams level of points, replacing the traditional goal average tie-breaker with one based on goal difference to try to encourage more scoring...
. Unable to stake a place in the side, Radford moved on to West Ham United
West Ham United F.C.
West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Upton Park, Newham, East London. They play in The Football League Championship. The club was founded in 1895 as Thames Ironworks FC and reformed in 1900 as West Ham United. In 1904 the club relocated to their current...
in December 1976 for £80,000. In all he played 481 times for Arsenal, scoring 149 goals, which makes him (as of 2011) Arsenal's fourth all-time top scorer.
After a year and 28 league appearances and no goals with the Hammers, Radford joined Blackburn Rovers
Blackburn Rovers F.C.
Blackburn Rovers Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Blackburn, Lancashire. The team currently competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football....
in 1977. He was moderately successful with the Second Division
Football League Second Division
From 1892 until 1992, the Football League Second Division was the second highest division overall in English football.This ended with the creation of the FA Premier League, prior to the start of the 1992–93 season, which caused an administrative split between The Football League and the teams...
side, scoring ten times in 38 league appearances. He left Rovers in 1978 and played for non-league Bishop's Stortford
Bishop's Stortford F.C.
Bishop's Stortford F.C. is an English football club based in Bishop's Stortford, Hertfordshire. The club are currently members of the Conference North and play at Woodside Park.-History:The club was established in 1874...
before retiring. After retiring, he became a pub
Public house
A public house, informally known as a pub, is a drinking establishment fundamental to the culture of Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. There are approximately 53,500 public houses in the United Kingdom. This number has been declining every year, so that nearly half of the smaller...
landlord, and enjoyed several spells as manager of Bishop's Stortford in the late 1980s and early 1990s. He now also gives tours of Arsenal's Emirates Stadium
Emirates Stadium
Ashburton Grove, currently known as the Emirates Stadium, is a UEFA elite football stadium which is home to Arsenal FC, where they moved from Highbury in 2006. It has an current capacity of 60,361, and there have been rumours of an expansion...
and appears as a football pundit on their TV station: Arsenal TV
Arsenal TV
Arsenal TV was a sports television channel devoted to coverage of the English football club Arsenal. It was a part of the Setanta Sports package and was similar to other Setanta's other channels Celtic TV, Rangers TV and LFC TV.-History:...
.