Noel Kinsey

Noel Kinsey (24 December 1925 – 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.

Noel Kinsey

Personal information
Full name	Noel Kinsey[1]
Date of birth	(1925-12-24)24 December 1925[1]
Place of birth	Treorchy, Glamorgan, Wales[1]
Date of death	20 May 2017(2017-05-20) (aged 91)[2]
Playing position(s)	Inside right
Youth career
	Treorchy Amateurs
	Cardiff City
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1947–1953	Norwich City	223	(57)
1953–1958	Birmingham City	149	(48)
1958–1961	Port Vale	72	(6)
Total		444	(111)
National team
1951–1955	Wales	7	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

He began his career with Norwich City in 1947, helping the "Canaries" to second place in the Third Division South in 1950–51. He transferred to Birmingham City in 1953, helping the club to the Second Division title in 1954–55. He scored in the 1956 FA Cup Final, which ended in a 3–1 defeat to Manchester City. In February 1958 he was signed to Port Vale for a £5,000 fee, and helped the "Valiants" to the Fourth Division title in 1958–59. 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 career

Norwich City

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 1947–48, after finishing second-from-bottom of the Third Division South. They rose to tenth in 1948–49, and then he finished as the club's top scorer in 1949–50 with 17 goals, as the club posted an eleventh-place finish.[3] They reached second place in 1950–51 under new manager Norman Low, but only champions Nottingham Forest were promoted, who finished six points ahead of Norwich. They dropped to third in 1951–52, five points behind champions Plymouth Argyle. They then finished fourth in 1952–53, four points behind champions Bristol Rovers. In total he scored 57 goals in 223 league appearances at Carrow Road.

Birmingham City

In 1953, the Welsh international signed with Bob Brocklebank's Birmingham City. The "Blues" finished seventh in the Second Division in 1953–54, before winning the Second Division title in an extremely tight 1954–55 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 1955–56 campaign, including a 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 3–1 despite goalkeeper Bert Trautmann suffering a serious neck injury, leaving Kinsey with a runners-up medal.[4] Birmingham finished 12th in 1956–57 and 13th in 1957–58. Kinsey scored a total of 55 goals in 173 league and cup competitions for Birmingham City.[5]

Port Vale

In February 1958 he was signed to Port Vale for a £5,000 fee, in a move that reunited him with former manager Norman Low.[1] He scored twice past Watford in a 5–0 win at Vale Park on 8 March, to finish 1957–58 with two goals in 14 appearances in the last ever season of Third Division South football.[1] He scored three goals in 37 games in 1958–59, as the "Valiants" won the inaugural Fourth Division championship.[1] However, he lost his place in September 1959, and scored once in 19 Third Division games in 1959–60.[1] In May 1960 he signed a player-coach contract, and played just six games in 1960–61.[1] 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.[1] He later became the player-coach to Lowestoft Town in the Eastern Counties League.[3]

International career

Kinsey won seven caps for Wales between 1951 and 1955. He featured in qualifying for the 1954 FIFA World Cup, playing in the 2–1 defeat to Northern Ireland at the Racecourse Ground on 31 March 1954.[3]

Post-retirement and legacy

Kinsey ran a pub, before working at Norwich Union Insurance.[6]

He was inducted into the 2003 inaugural Norwich City F.C. Hall of Fame.[7]

Kinsey died at the age of 91 in May 2017.[3]

Statistics

Club statistics

Source:[8]

Club	Season	Division	League		FA Cup		Other		Total
			Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Norwich City	1947–48	Third Division South	36	1	3	2	0	0	39	3
	1948–49	Third Division South	22	11	2	1	0	0	24	12
	1949–50	Third Division South	37	14	5	3	0	0	42	17
	1950–51	Third Division South	46	13	5	1	0	0	51	14
	1951–52	Third Division South	44	11	3	1	0	0	47	12
	1952–53	Third Division South	38	7	2	0	0	0	40	7
	Total		223	57	20	8	0	0	243	65
Birmingham City	1953–54	Second Division	37	10	2	0	0	0	39	10
	1954–55	Second Division	35	13	4	1	0	0	39	14
	1955–56	First Division	34	14	6	3	0	0	40	17
	1956–57	First Division	28	6	7	3	3[lower-alpha 1]	0	38	9
	1957–58	First Division	15	5	1	0	1[lower-alpha 1]	0	17	5
	Total		149	48	20	7	4	0	173	55
Port Vale	1957–58	Third Division	14	2	0	0	0	0	14	2
	1958–59	Fourth Division	36	3	1	0	0	0	37	3
	1959–60	Third Division	19	1	1	0	0	0	20	1
	1960–61	Third Division	3	0	0	0	3[lower-alpha 2]	1	6	1
	Total		72	6	2	0	3	1	77	7
Career total			444	111	42	15	7	1	493	127

1. Appearances in Inter-Cities Fairs Cup
2. Appearances in League Cup

International statistics

Wales national team
Year	Apps	Goals
1951	4	0
1952	0	0
1953	0	0
1954	1	0
1955	2	0
Total[9]	7	0

Honours

Norwich City

• Football League Third Division South runner-up: 1950–51
• Norwich City F.C. Hall of Fame: 2003[5]

Birmingham City

• Football League Second Division champion: 1954–55[4]
• FA Cup runner-up: 1956[4]

Port Vale

• Football League Fourth Division champion: 1958–59[10]

References

1. Kent, Jeff (1996). Port Vale Personalities. Witan Books. p. 164. ISBN 0-9529152-0-0.
2. "Noel Kinsey". Norwich Evening News. 25 May 2017. Retrieved 25 May 2017 – via familynotices24.co.uk.
3. Wise, Chris (24 May 2017). "Former Norwich City striker Noel Kinsey dies, aged 91". Eastern Daily Press. Norwich. Retrieved 24 May 2017.
4. Baggaley, Mike (24 May 2017). "Tributes paid to former Port Vale forward Noel Kinsey". Stoke Sentinel. Retrieved 24 May 2017.
5. Chapman, Joseph (24 May 2017). "Former Birmingham City player Noel Kinsey passes away, aged 91". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 24 May 2017.
6. Fissler, Neil. "Port Vale – K". where-are-they-now.co.uk. Archived from the original on 5 April 2012. Retrieved 1 November 2011.
7. "Norwich City Hall of Fame". Eastern Daily Press. 2003. Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 25 July 2007.
8. Noel Kinsey at the English National Football Archive (subscription required)
9. "Noel Kinsey". national-football-teams.com. Retrieved 7 August 2015.
10. Kent, Jeff (1990). "Fame and Fortune (1950–1959)". The Valiants' Years: The Story Of Port Vale. Witan Books. pp. 171–196. ISBN 0-9508981-4-7.