Blast from The Past: On This Day 1933 – CCFC’s Fifties Defensive Stalwart Frank Austin Born
A young Frank Austin in 1953
Thanks to CCFC historian Steve Phelps for reminding us of the birthday of a CCFC stalwart in the pre-Sky Blues days when the club was known as the ‘Bantams’. The memory above is excerpted from his book ‘Coventry City On This Day’ (Pitch Publishing 2010) which points up lots of interesting Sky Blue anniversaries*.
Born in Stoke on Trent on 6th July 1933 Frank grew up in Long Eaton and was one of many youngsters from Derbyshire brought to Coventry by manager Harry Storer in the post-war era. He first played for Toton FC before joining CCFC’s junior feeder club of the time ‘Modern Machine Tools‘. He was an England Schoolboy International. He became a professional with the club in December 1948 and developed his skills in the Bantams’ reserves.
Frank in Bantams’ blue & white stripes 1957
He was an outstanding youngster who many thought would go right to the top but he stayed at Highfield Road to become a legend. His first team debut eventually came at wing half in a Division 3 South game at Highfield Road in a 1-0 home defeat against Newport County on 11th April 1953 . However, he was versatile enough to play in any defensive position.
Frank was also one of only two players – Peter Hill (a CCFPA member prior to his death – was the other) to have played under the two City managerial legends, Storer and Jimmy Hill and less than twenty players have ever made more appearances for CCFC. Like many players he did not fit in with JH‘s plans and was only 29 when he left to join Torquay United in early 1963 with 313 first team games under his belt (and only a couple of goals).
Frank played 26 games for the south west seaside team (without scoring) before dropping down to non-league with Chelmsford later in 1963. He also had games with Brentwood Town and Rugby Town before retiring in 1969 to Long Eaton, Derbyshire. Frank passed away in 2004.
