John Bainbridge (footballer)

John Bainbridge

Personal information
Full name	John Robert Bainbridge
Date of birth	1880
Place of birth	Seaham, England
Date of death	17 January 1960 (aged 79)
Place of death	Sunderland, England
Height	5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Playing position	Forward
Youth career
	Silksworth
–	Sunderland Royal Rovers
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1903-1904	Glossop
1904-1906	Reading
1906-1907	Portsmouth	25	(4)
1907-1910	Southampton	84	(20)
1910-1911	Hartlepools United
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.

John Robert Bainbridge (1880 in Seaham, County Durham – 17 January 1960 in Sunderland, County Durham) was a professional footballer who played as a forward for three Southern League clubs between 1903 and 1910.

Bainbridge started his footballing career in the North East with Silksworth and Sunderland Royal Rovers, before turning professional with Glossop in May 1903.

In the summer of 1904 he moved South to join Reading where he spent two seasons before joining Portsmouth in 1906.^[1] After a season at Portsmouth, he moved along the South coast to join Southampton in May 1907.

According to Holley & Chalk's The Alphabet of the Saints, Bainbridge was "a reliable performer. His right-wing partnership with Frank Jefferis drew favourable comparisons with the famed duo of Wood and Turner seven years earlier".^[2]

In Saints' FA Cup run in 1908, in which they reached the semi-finals, he scored 4 goals in 6 games. Ill health ended his career at The Dell and he returned to his native North-East where, after playing briefly for Hartlepools United, he returned to his original occupation as coal-miner.^[3]

References

1. Dave Juson & others (2004). Saints v Pompey - A history of unrelenting rivalry. Hagiology Publishing. ISBN 0-9534474-5-6.
2. Duncan Holley & Gary Chalk (1992). The Alphabet of the Saints. ACL & Polar Publishing. p. 17. ISBN 0-9514862-3-3.
3. Gary Chalk & Duncan Holley (1987). Saints - A complete record. Breedon Books. ISBN 0-907969-22-4.