FRANK SQUIRES

Born: 08 March 1921

Came from: Swansea Town   Went to: Grimsby Town

First game: 01 November 1947   Last game: 06 May 1950

Appearances: 89 (89/0)   Goals: 13

Squires was an inside-forward and was born in Swansea, then in West Glamorgan. A former Welsh schoolboy international, he was a product of the Swansea Town (the present-day Swansea City) junior side. He turned professional at the Vetch Field in June 1938 and played in wartime football but had to wait until hostilities had ceased to make his first team debut for the club in 1946.

Although his career was seriously disrupted by the war years, he did play two wartime internationals for Wales (against England in 1941-42 & Scotland in 1945-46) and also in a Victory International in 1946.

After a single season in the starting XI at Swansea, which ended in relegation, he was sold to Argyle, for £7,500 in October 1947 as a Jimmy Rae signing. In total he had played 36 times for the Swans, scoring five goals.

Squires became a regular at inside-forward at Home Park over the following three years. Unfortunately his stay in the south-west also ended in relegation, in 1949-50, as Argyle dropped from the Second Division to Division Three (South). He had played 89 times and scored a respectable 13 goals, before joining Grimsby Town for £9,000 in July 1950. He played 36 times and scored twice for the Mariners in the 1950-51 season, when remarkably, he completed the most unwanted of hat-tricks, as Grimsby were also relegated from the Second Division.

Perhaps feeling something of a Football League jinx, he returned to Wales in September 1951, and finished his career with Merthyr Tydfil, playing in the Southern League. He certainly made up for his Football League disappointments in his time with the Martyrs. He played for them from 1951 to 1955, during which time they won the Southern League three times and were runners-up once, the Welsh Cup once and were runners-up once, and the Welsh League Cup once.

He later spent some time as Barry Town's player-coach in 1955-56, playing 47 times and scoring seven goals before a similar spell with Brecon Corinthians as their player-manager in 1956-57.

Squires died in Swansea, in March 1988, aged 66 and is remembered via the Frank Squires’ Trust Fund, a registered charity established in West Glamorgan in his memory, which focuses on providing education grants to help local students with the costs of their studies.