Dennis Randall

DOB: 23rd May 1938

Position: Striker

Season of first appearance: 1965/66

Season of last appearance: 1966/67

Full Appearances: 93

Substitute: 0

Goals: 75

Also played for:

Vauxhall Motors, Hitchin Town, Kettering Town, Cambridge United, Yeovil Town, Bexley United, Bletchley.

Player Profile:

Tall striker noted for his aerial ability who was born in Edmonton and began his senior career with Luton-based Spartan League outfit Vauxhall Motors. Dennis was a prolific scorer for the club and also worked at Vauxhall's factory. During 1959/60, he contracted tuberculosis and Dennis was told that he'd never play football again but he battled back to full fitness.

In the summer of 1960 he moved on to Hitchin of the Athenian League and, on 5.11.60, Dennis was in the side that lost 6-2 at Third Division South leaders Crystal Palace in an FA Cup 1st Round Proper tie. A crowd of 21,118 saw the match.

As the 1960/61 campaign progressed, he hit a rich vein of form and, in December 1960, Dennis scored four times in a 10-0 home win over Leyton before bagging a hat-trick in his next outing - a 9-2 win at Finchley. He eventually managed 52 goals from just 42 appearances during the season and, in total, scored seven hat-tricks as well as scoring four times on two occasions. The second of those won the Hertfordshire Senior Cup for Hitchin as they beat visitors Hertford 4-3 on 13.5.61. The club also had a great run in the prestigious FA Amateur Cup before losing 1-0 to Walthamstow Avenue in the semi-final played at London's huge White City stadium in front of a crowd of 10,300.

During the 1961/62 campaign, Dennis again scored at a rate of better than a goal a game for Hitchin, finding the net 51 times from 44 outings to take his overall tally for the club to a remarkable 103 goals from 86 appearances. He also played twice for the England Amateur side during the season and Dennis later said that had been "a great honour".

In August 1962, he moved on to Kettering and Dennis chose to join the Southern League Premier Division club as they were able to offer him semi-professional terms. He later explained: "I was getting married at the time and the move was good financially." He helped Kettering to finish fifth in the league during 1962/63, just five points behind champions Cambridge United, and, early in the 1963/64 season, Dennis scored in a 2-0 home win over Margate.

In the summer of 1964, he signed for Cambridge United and Dennis spent the 1964/65 campaign there, scoring as United won the Southern League Cup by beating Weymouth.

He started 1965/66 at Yeovil but Dennis couldn't break into their first-team and in December 1965 he signed for Margate.

Dennis made his debut in a 2-0 home defeat at the hands of Dartford on 27.12.65 and, in the return match at Dartford the following day, he was carried off unconscious with a three-inch head wound but soon came back on. The local press described him as being "big of build and also of heart" and Dennis made quite an impact during the remainder of the 1965/66 season, although Margate were relegated from the Southern League Premier Division. He scored 21 goals in only 33 appearances and was essentially a belated replacement for Alan Blackburn. Dennis bagged a hat-trick in an amazing 7-6 win over King's Lynn at Hartsdown Park on 7.2.66 and was also sent off for fighting in the 1st Leg of the Kent Floodlight Cup Final at Dartford on 12.5.66. His clash was with the Darts' keeper John Bourne whose son Dave played for Margate 30 years later.

The 1966/67 campaign was a memorable one for Dennis as Margate won promotion from the Southern League Division One by finishing as runners-up and he set a post-World War II record of 54 goals in a season, beating John Ballagher's tally of 50 during 1964/65. Dennis' flair for converting half-chances into goals coupled with what the local press called his "unfailing accuracy" and sheer determination proved to be a deadly combination. Dennis scored four hat-tricks, including all three goals in a 3-0 win over Ramsgate in the Southern League Cup on 5.12.66, which the Isle of Thanet Gazette said put him "in the elite class of opportunists". He also scored several great goals, many with his head including two diving headers - in a 5-0 win at Gravesend & Northfleet on 2.5.67 and on 13.5.67 during a 4-1 win over Bexley at Hartsdown Park. That game turned out to be Dennis' last for the club as the man dubbed "the Rodney Marsh of the Southern League" was forced to leave Margate shortly afterwards. His job at Vauxhall Motors and a promotion meant that Dennis needed a club nearer to his Luton home.

In June 1967, he was transferred to Bexley for a small three-figure fee and Dennis spent the 1967/68 and 1968/69 seasons there.

He later played for Bletchley Town, becoming their coach and later manager before resigning in 1975.

In 2003, Dennis lived in Luton and had recovered from a brain haemorrhage suffered some 18 months before. He was keeping himself busy playing golf and gardening.

In March 2014, Dennis was still based in Luton aged 75 but sadly he was suffering from Alzheimer's disease.