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Post by Macmoish on Sept 22, 2010 12:18:21 GMT
I confess I hadn't heard of him... Hounslow Chronicle - Bees mourn Jim Towers loss Sep 22 2010 By Tim Street BRENTFORD are mourning the loss of their all-time leading goal-scorer, Jim Towers, who passed away last Thursday. Towers formed a deadly partnership throughout the 1950s with George Francis, with the pair being known as the Terrible Twins. Seen as one of the greatest players to have worn the red and white stripes, Towers netted 163 goals in 282 games over a decade for the Bees. The Brentford board infuriated fans by flogging Towers and Francis to local rivals QPR in the summer of 1961, and once the Bees had realised their mistake, they tried to buy him back straight away, but the deal fell through. Brentford did manage to bring Francis back a few months later, but Towers remained with QPR, and the Millwall, before the duo teamed up again at Gillingham. Towers ran down his career at Aldershot, Romford and Gravesend, and lived in Hounslow right up to his death, aged 76, following a short illness. www.hounslowchronicle.co.uk/west-london-sport/west-london-brentford-fc/2010/09/22/bees-mourn-jim-towers-loss-109642-27320073/ |
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Post by Macmoish on Sept 22, 2010 12:21:12 GMT
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Post by Macmoish on Sept 22, 2010 12:27:54 GMT
Looking back, see him in the team photo. Back Row: George Francis, Mark Lazarus, Michael Keen, Ray Drinkwater, Bernard Evans, Jim Towers and Peter Baker. Centre Row: Jimmy Andrews, Keith Rutter, Roy Bentley (Capt), Tony Ingham and Peter Angell. Front Row: Brain Bedford and Michael Barber. |
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ronski
Gerry Francis
I have some old QPR pictures how do you post them on this site.
Posts: 61
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Post by ronski on Sept 22, 2010 14:53:10 GMT
There is something wrong with this picture the orientation is not correct. Jim Towers is the second from the left.
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Post by cpr on Sept 22, 2010 15:02:53 GMT
There is something wrong with this picture the orientation is not correct. Jim Towers is the second from the left. You are correct Ronski, it's a mirror image or produced from a flip negative. We had a sort of quiz about it not too long ago, the ground is arse about face as well. At least I think that was the reason!  |
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Post by londonranger on Sept 22, 2010 15:18:16 GMT
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Post by bp on Sept 22, 2010 15:45:09 GMT
Sorry this image has driven me mad. Remember Jim Towers well but as pointed out he was here and gone inside a season I think.  |
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Post by bp on Sept 22, 2010 15:50:45 GMT
Of the above:
Ray Drinkwater, Mark Lazarus, Michael Keen, Bernard Evans, Jimmy Andrews, Keith Rutter, Roy Bentley, Tony Ingham, Peter Angell and Brain Bedford.
Plus any one other of the above was the team week in week out from memory, as bad as mine is.
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Post by Macmoish on Sept 30, 2010 9:46:33 GMT
Ebbsfleet United SiteFleet mourn Jim Towers Thursday, 23 September 2010 22:25 Ed Miller The Fleet were saddened to learn of the death of one of the club's former sons late last week. Jim Towers, 76, died after a long illness, leaving a wife Betty and three children - Mark, Richard and Maxine. His funeral will take place at Mortlake Crematorium on Tuesday September 28, at 2pm. Those wishing to send flowers are invited to do so. Born in Shepherds Bush in April 1933, Jim arrived at Stonebridge Road in July 1965 and spent three years at the Fleet until his retirement at the end of the 1967-68 season. He scored a highly impressive 46 goals in 77 appearances, a record which drew comparisons to Nineties legend and club record goalscorer Steve Portway from fans who remembered him. Jim had enjoyed a successful career at Brentford, playing at Griffin Park between 1951 and 1961, signing professional just before leaving for Germany to do his army national service. He racked up 153 goals in 263 games - a record goals haul for Brentford - alongside another hotshot striker, George Francis, who himself managed 124 goals. The two were nicknamed the 'Terrible Twins'. He moved on to play for both Queens Park Rangers and Millwall before joining Gillingham for £2,500 in January 1963, where he was reunited with former partner in crime George Francis. Although Jim managed only eight games for the Gills, he still found the net on six occasions. His next move took him to Aldershot and then he dropped into non-league in 1964 with Romford, from where he found his way to Stonebridge Road a year later at the age of 32. In his first season for the Fleet he was top scorer with 31 league goals, scoring four goals against Trowbridge Town, a hat-trick against Merthyr Tydfil and several braces. He was top scorer again in 1966-67, with 15 goals in a Fleet team that struggled and finished fourth from bottom and managed only a further two games in 1967-68 - his absence most notable perhaps in the stark fact that Fleet's top scorers that season managed a paltry four goals! Of his hat-tricks, he remembered in an interview with the Brentford website, "I did have a match ball from Millwall for scoring three but what happened was, when I went to Gravesend, they were always short of everything. Didn't even have a ball. In those days Brentford were short, imagine what Gravesend were like!! I said to (the then manager) Walter Rickett, I'll fetch my ball. I let them play with it, then left it down there. Once you'd played with it, that was it. They weren't like they are now and it had got a little bit torn so I said to keep it." Fleet's media man Charles Webster recalled, "Older fans will remember him as a one-of-a-kind goal machine. By the time he arrived at Stonebridge Road he was not the most mobile of players but he was still a remarkable goalscorer. His Football League goal scoring record was an unbelieveable 194 goals in 345 games and he maintained that rate in the non league game. At the Fleet he played under Walter Ricketts and was regarded with godlike status, with junior players like Chris Palethorpe eager to carry his kit bag." After leaving football, he spent 25 years working as a baggage handler for British Airways at Heathrow Airport and lived in the Hounslow area. Brentford will be holding a minute's applause before their game at Charlton on October 2 and the Fleet are expected to announce their own plans in this regard before the next home match at Stonebridge Road. www.ebbsfleetunited.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1016%3Afleet-mourn-jim-towers&catid=37%3Aclub-news
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Post by Macmoish on Oct 16, 2010 7:34:06 GMT
An obituary/memory on Indys "Edwin James Towers - Professional Footballer - 1954 to 1965 - R.I.P. ' www.indyrs.co.uk/?p=467 |
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