Unsung hero Trevor was such a key player for the Robins
IT seems inconceivable that a player who served Bristol City with distinction, and whose total number of league appearances was only surpassed by John Atyeo and Louis Carey, should find himself in the situation of having to decide whether to lose his job or see the club he had graced for 14 seasons to go under. But that’s what happened to midfielder Trevor Tainton.
He should be remembered as a vital component of the team promoted to Division One in 1976. He scored 24 goals in 486 league games. He featured prominently as City reached the League Cup semifinals in 1970-71, the FA Cup sixth round in 1973-74 and won the Anglo-Scottish Cup in 1977-78. Trevor was City’s workhorse in the midfield.
Trevor joined City as an apprentice in 1965. Manager Fred Ford gave him the first of his 556 appearances (plus 33 as sub) in a home match against Carlisle United on September 2, 1967. He won several England Schoolboys international caps and was captain of Bristol Boys versus Stoke Boys in the English Schools Trophy Final on May 13, 1963.
He went on to make four firstteam appearances that season, when Ford departed and Alan Dicks was appointed his successor. He established himself as a firstteam regular in the 1969-70 season, going on to play every league game in City’s promotion year. An unsung hero he may have been but his quiet midfield efficiency did not go unnoticed. His consistent good form in City’s midfield attracted a £50,000 bid from Bill Shankley at Liverpool.
He continued to be one of the first names on City’s teamsheet during those halcyon First Division days and, despite successive relegation seasons in the 1980-81 and 1981-82 season, he continued to keep his place. Then, of course, came the cash crisis and Trevor played his last game for City at Newport on January 30, 1982, before departing as one of the Ashton Gate Eight.
At one of the Ashton Gate reunions, I talked to him about this career and he was one of the most modest, softly-spoken and courteous of men. He was really grateful for his years at Bristol City, despite the sad ending, and had a soft spot for the fans.
Bristol City historian Dave Woods believes he was the most important player City had on their journey to the top flight due to his work-rate, tenacity, and skill.
His passing was consistently accurate and thoughtful. He would keep getting the ball and knocking it into spaces around the penalty area, gently, testingly; as if he were a doctor examining a patient and every pass was a gentle prod and the question ‘Is that where it hurts?’
He made a packed midfield seem suddenly full of space, and sensed an opponent’s presence without seeing him. It was like watching a great chef.
When I saw him, he could glide round opponents like a slalom skier between posts and spray passes accurately around the field all afternoon; tackling and defensive duties were also his strong suit. His self-confidence, work-rate and command of the pitch, would bulge out like bread dough from the fridge set on a warm stove. He also had a distinctive stride.
When he hit top speed his body seems to sink slightly so that his hips are on a level with his knees. In the promotion season, he used to power away from defences, lowslung as a sports car.
Then there was the followthrough of his shot, his foot as high in the air as a can-can dancer’s, his jaw looking in imminent danger of being dislocated by his fast-rising thigh, head tilted forward, and eyes staring along his shin as if down the barrel of a bazooka.
It is unusual for a player to come to epitomise a football club in the way that Trevor Tainton does Bristol City. But he was a real Bristol City legend.