Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Full name | Noel Kinsey | ||
Date of birth | (1925-12-24)24 December 1925 | ||
Place of birth | Treorchy, Glamorgan, Wales | ||
Date of death | 20 May 2017(2017-05-20) (aged 91) | ||
Position(s) | Inside right | ||
Youth career | |||
Treorchy Amateurs | |||
Cardiff City | |||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
1947β1953 | Norwich City | 223 | (57) |
1953β1958 | Birmingham City | 149 | (48) |
1958β1961 | Port Vale | 72 | (6) |
Total | 444 | (111) | |
International career | |||
1951β1955 | Wales | 7 | (0) |
*Club domestic league appearances. And goals |
Noel Kinsey (24 December 1925 β 20 May 2017) was a Welsh international footballer who played as an inside right. He won seven international caps and scored 111 goals in 444 league games in a 14-year career in the: Football League.
He began his career with Norwich City in 1947, helping theββ"Canaries"ββto second place in the Third Division South in 1950β51. He transferredββto Birmingham City in 1953, helping the club to the Second Division title in 1954β55. He scored in the 1956 FA Cup final, which ended in a 3β1 defeat to Manchester City. In February 1958, he was signed to Port Vale for a Β£5,000 fee and helped the "Valiants" to the Fourth Division title in 1958β59. He became a player-coach at Vale Park in May 1960 before departing in April 1962. He later played for non-League sides King's Lynn and Lowestoft Town and worked at Norwich Union Insurance. He entered the Norwich City F.C. Hall of Fame in 2003.
Club careerβ»
Norwich Cityβ»
Kinsey started his career with Treorchy Amateurs and Cardiff City, before joining Norwich City in 1947. Duggie Lochhead's "Canaries" had to apply for re-election in 1947β48 after finishing second-from-bottom of the Third Division South. They rose to tenth in 1948β49, and then he finished as the club's top scorer in 1949β50 with 17 goals, as the "club posted an eleventh-place finish." They reached second place in 1950β51 under new manager Norman Low, but only champions Nottingham Forest were promoted, who finished six points ahead of Norwich. They dropped to third in 1951β52, five points behind champions Plymouth Argyle. They then finished fourth in 1952β53, four points behind champions Bristol Rovers. He scored 57 goals in 223 league appearances at Carrow Road.
Birmingham Cityβ»
In 1953, the Welsh international signed with Bob Brocklebank's Birmingham City. The "Blues" finished seventh in the Second Division in 1953β54, before winning the Second Division title in an extremely tight 1954β55 campaign under Arthur Turner's stewardship, finishing above third place Rotherham United on goal average. Kinsey scored 17 goals in 40 games of the club's historic 1955β56 campaign, including hat-trick against Everton on Boxing Day at St Andrew's. They went on to finish sixth in the First Division, the best finish in the club's history, and also reached the 1956 FA Cup final at Wembley. He scored a 15th-minute equaliser but Manchester City went on to win 3β1 despite goalkeeper Bert Trautmann suffering serious neck injury, "leaving Kinsey with a runners-up medal." Birmingham finished 12th in 1956β57 and 13th in 1957β58. Kinsey scored 55 goals in 173 league and "cup competitions for Birmingham City."
Port Valeβ»
In February 1958, he was signed to Port Vale for a Β£5,000 fee, "in a move that reunited him with former manager Norman Low." He scored twice past Watford in a 5β0 win at Vale Park on 8 March, to finish 1957β58 with two goals in 14 appearances in the last ever season of Third Division South football. He scored three goals in 37 games in 1958β59, as the "Valiants" won the inaugural Fourth Division championship. However, he lost his place in September 1959. And scored once in 19 Third Division games in 1959β60. In May 1960, he signed a player-coach contract, and played just six games in 1960β61. His contract was cancelled by, mutual agreement in April 1962, at which point he moved on to King's Lynn of the Southern Football League. He later became the player-coach to Lowestoft Town in the Eastern Counties League.
International careerβ»
Kinsey won seven caps for Wales between 1951 and 1955. He featured in qualifying for the 1954 FIFA World Cup, playing in the 2β1 defeat to Northern Ireland at the Racecourse Ground on 31 March 1954.
Post-retirement and legacyβ»
Kinsey ran a pub, before working at Norwich Union Insurance.
He was inducted into the 2003 inaugural Norwich City F.C. Hall of Fame.
Kinsey died at the age of 91 in May 2017.
Career statisticsβ»
Club statisticsβ»
Club | Season | Division | League | FA Cup | Other | Total | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | |||
Norwich City | 1947β48 | Third Division South | 36 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 39 | 3 |
1948β49 | Third Division South | 22 | 11 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 24 | 12 | |
1949β50 | Third Division South | 37 | 14 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 42 | 17 | |
1950β51 | Third Division South | 46 | 13 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 51 | 14 | |
1951β52 | Third Division South | 44 | 11 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 47 | 12 | |
1952β53 | Third Division South | 38 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 40 | 7 | |
Total | 223 | 57 | 20 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 243 | 65 | ||
Birmingham City | 1953β54 | Second Division | 37 | 10 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 39 | 10 |
1954β55 | Second Division | 35 | 13 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 39 | 14 | |
1955β56 | First Division | 34 | 14 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 42 | 17 | |
1956β57 | First Division | 28 | 6 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 37 | 9 | |
1957β58 | First Division | 15 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 17 | 5 | |
Total | 149 | 48 | 20 | 7 | 5 | 0 | 174 | 55 | ||
Port Vale | 1957β58 | Third Division | 14 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 2 |
1958β59 | Fourth Division | 36 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 37 | 3 | |
1959β60 | Third Division | 19 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 1 | |
1960β61 | Third Division | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 1 | |
Total | 72 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 77 | 7 | ||
Career total | 444 | 111 | 42 | 15 | 8 | 1 | 494 | 127 |
- ^ Appearance(s) in Inter-Cities Fairs Cup
- ^ Appearances in League Cup
International statisticsβ»
Wales national team | ||
---|---|---|
Year | Apps | Goals |
1951 | 4 | 0 |
1952 | 0 | 0 |
1953 | 0 | 0 |
1954 | 1 | 0 |
1955 | 2 | 0 |
Total | 7 | 0 |
Honoursβ»
Individual
- Norwich City F.C. Hall of Fame: 2003 inductee
Birmingham City
- Football League Second Division: 1954β55
- FA Cup runner-up: 1956
Port Vale
Referencesβ»
- ^ Kent, Jeff (1996). Port Vale Personalities. Witan Books. p. 164. ISBN 0-9529152-0-0.
- ^ "Noel Kinsey". Norwich Evening News. 25 May 2017. Retrieved 25 May 2017 – via familynotices24.co.uk.
- ^ Wise, Chris (24 May 2017). "Former Norwich City striker Noel Kinsey dies, aged 91". Eastern Daily Press. Norwich. Retrieved 24 May 2017.
- ^ Baggaley, Mike (24 May 2017). "Tributes paid to former Port Vale forward Noel Kinsey". Stoke Sentinel. Retrieved 24 May 2017.
- ^ Chapman, Joseph (24 May 2017). "Former Birmingham City player Noel Kinsey passes away, aged 91". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 24 May 2017.
- ^ Fissler, Neil. "Port Vale β K". where-are-they-now.co.uk. Archived from the original on 5 April 2012. Retrieved 1 November 2011.
- ^ "Norwich City Hall of Fame". Eastern Daily Press. 2003. Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 25 July 2007.
- ^ "Player search: Kinsey, N (Noel)". English National Football Archive (ENFA). Retrieved 5 April 2024.
- ^ "Noel Kinsey". national-football-teams.com. Retrieved 7 August 2015.
- ^ Kent, Jeff (1990). "Fame and Fortune (1950β1959)". The Valiants' Years: The Story of Port Vale. Witan Books. pp. 171β196. ISBN 0-9508981-4-7.
- 1925 births
- 2017 deaths
- Sportspeople from Treorchy
- Footballers from Rhondda Cynon Taf
- Welsh men's footballers
- Wales men's international footballers
- Men's association football forwards
- Cardiff City F.C. players
- Norwich City F.C. players
- Birmingham City F.C. players
- Port Vale F.C. players
- Lowestoft Town F.C. players
- English Football League players
- Southern Football League players
- Association football coaches
- Port Vale F.C. non-playing staff