Fred Durrant

Fred Durrant
Personal information
Full name Frederick Harry Durrant[1]
Date of birth (1921-06-19)19 June 1921
Place of birth Dover, England
Date of death 5 March 2010(2010-03-05) (aged 88)
Place of death Dover, England[1]
Playing position Centre forward
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
Folkestone
1938–1946 Brentford 4 (3)
→ Aldershot (guest)
→ Blackburn Rovers (guest)
1946–1949 Queens Park Rangers 51 (26)
1949–1950 Exeter City 17 (5)
1950–1952 Dover
Teams managed
1950–1957 Dover
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.

Frederick Harry "Fred" Durrant (19 June 1921 – 5 March 2010) was an English professional football forward and manager who played in the Football League, most notably for Queens Park Rangers.[2] After dropping into non-league football in 1950, he played for and managed Kent League side Dover.[2]

Playing career

Brentford

A centre forward, Durrant began his career at Southern League side Folkestone, before signing for Division One side Brentford on his 17th birthday in 1938.[2] He failed to make a first team appearance before the outbreak of the Second World War the following year saw competitive football suspended. Durrant made wartime appearances for the Bees and guested for Aldershot and Blackburn Rovers.[2] Following the end of the war, Durrant finally made his debut in the abridged 1945–46 season, scoring on his debut in a 2–2 FA Cup third round first leg draw with Tottenham Hotspur on 5 January 1946.[3] He scored three further goals in the following rounds (until the Bees were knocked out in the sixth), finishing the season with four goals from six appearances.[4] Durrant made his Football League debut in a Division One match versus Blackpool on 2 September 1946, scoring the opening goal in a 2–2 draw.[5] He made the headlines in the following game against Wolverhampton Wanderers, leaving the pitch concussed during the first half, then returning for the second half and scoring two goals in a 2–1 win.[2][6] After two further appearances, Durrant was surprisingly transferred by manager Harry Curtis.[2] Durrant scored seven goals in only 10 games for the Bees.[7]

Queens Park Rangers

Durrant joined Division Three South side Queens Park Rangers in late September 1946, for a then-record £4,500 fee.[2] With the club's regular centre forwards away on army duty, Durrant was signed to bolster the high-flying club's frontline.[8] Denied promotion with a second-place finish during the 1946–47 season, Durrant finally won the first silverware of his career when Rangers brought home the Division Three South title in 1948. After scoring 26 goals in 53 games,[8] Durrant departed Loftus Road in February 1949.[8]

Exeter City

Durrant signed for Division Three South side Exeter City in February 1949, for a then-club record £5,000.[2] In an injury-affected spell, he managed 5 goals in 17 appearances,[9] before retiring from league football in 1950.[2]

Dover

Durrant saw out his career with a spell at Kent League Division One side Dover, who were managed by former Brentford teammate George Poyser.[2] He retired in 1952.

Management career

Durrant undertook a player-manager role upon joining Dover and remained in the role after retiring from playing.[10][11][12] He had a successful time with the club, winning the Kent League and Senior Cup double in the 1951–52 season and the Kent League Cup in 1956–57.[12][13][14]

Personal life

After football, Durrant settled in Dover and ran a cafe.[8] His nephew, Chris Penn, is a retired first-class cricketer who played for Kent. At the time of his death in March 2010, Durrant was Brentford's oldest-living player.[8]

Honours

As a player

Queens Park Rangers

Dover

As a manager

Dover

References

  1. 1 2 "Fred Durrant". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 24 October 2015.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Haynes, Graham; Coumbe, Frank (2006). Timeless Bees: Brentford F.C. Who's Who 1920-2006. Harefield: Yore Publications. p. 51. ISBN 978-0955294914.
  3. ↑ "Brentford Football Club History". brentfordfchistory.co.uk. Retrieved 2014-09-22.
  4. ↑ "Brentford Football Club History". brentfordfchistory.co.uk. Retrieved 2014-09-22.
  5. ↑ "Brentford Football Club History". brentfordfchistory.co.uk. Retrieved 2014-09-22.
  6. ↑ "Brentford Football Club History". brentfordfchistory.co.uk. Retrieved 2014-09-22.
  7. ↑ "Brentford Football Club History". brentfordfchistory.co.uk. Retrieved 2014-09-22.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 "In Memory Of Fred Durrant | Independent Rs". indyrs.co.uk. Retrieved 2014-09-22.
  9. ↑ "player8/freddurrant". neilbrown.newcastlefans.com. Retrieved 2014-09-22.
  10. ↑ "THREE CUPS Pubs of Dover". dover-kent.com. Retrieved 2014-09-22.
  11. ↑ "RED LION (Charlton) Pubs of Dover". dover-kent.com. Retrieved 2014-09-22.
  12. 1 2 3 "The 1956-57 Team in May.". doverteamphotos.tripod.com. Retrieved 2014-09-22.
  13. 1 2 3 "The 1951-52 team.". doverteamphotos.tripod.com. Retrieved 2014-09-22.
  14. ↑ "Football Club History Database - Dover". fchd.info. Retrieved 2014-09-22.
  15. ↑ "The 1950-51 team.". doverteamphotos.tripod.com. Retrieved 2014-09-22.
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