By Will Foster

The supporter who wrote into the Luton News had a story to tell of being hit ‘full in the clock’ by a powerful shot. ‘When I came to, it was to find…my forehead skinned and my hair laid back two inches.’ He mused the danger was enough to persuade any fan to pay the extra bob and take a seat in the stand, where the danger of flying footballs would be lessened.

The ball had left the foot of Town’s Jimmy Yardley. The Wishaw-born forward spent six productive seasons at Kenilworth Road, with his final goal tally of 94 bettered only by Gordon Turner, Andy Rennie, Brian Stein, Ernie Simms, Herbert Moody and Steve Howard.

He’d moved south to Orient in 1924 but had struggled for matches in London, playing only 29 times in three years. As luck would have it, that meant appearing for the reserves against Luton, where a devastating performance would bring him firmly onto Town’s radar. A transfer was arranged in January of 1927, with Norman Thomson moving the other way.

The deal caused some consternation amongst fans given Thomson’s solid performances for the last two seasons. These fears were not helped by a slow start from Town’s new forward, who arrived nursing an ankle injury and failed to score for the rest of the season. All this would change the next year when Andy Rennie’s redeployment to centre-forward allowed the two Scots to form a partnership that still stands as one of the most successful Kenilworth Road has ever seen.

An early turning point was a hat-trick in William McCartney’s first game as manager, a 5-2 win over Brentford. It was quickly followed by four against Clapton in the FA Cup, part of his 16 in the competition for Luton, a number bettered only by Gordon Turner (18).

Town’s trainer Horace Pakes said of him, ‘there was never a player more eager to train and to keep himself fit.’ He was otherwise noted as ‘quick on the turn…able to shoot powerfully in one movement with either foot.’

Unhappy with being asked to play as a target man, Yardley would move to Charlton in 1931 and then onto Millwall, maintaining a good scoring record at both clubs. Afterwards he return home to Scotland where he died in 1959, though family links to the club were maintained for many years by his granddaughter, and long serving club employee, Cherry Newbery.

Below: (L-R) Randolph Galloway, John Fulton and Jimmy Yardley.