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[Steve Russell]

Edwin James Towers – Professional Footballer – 1954 to 1965 – R.I.P.

Jim Towers was a prolific goal scoring forward in the lower reaches of the Football League
for various clubs including Brentford, QPR and Aldershot, spanning the period from 1954 to 1965.

His main role was in the Centre Forward/Inside Forward slot but he sometimes operated on the
left wing.

Although Jim was a supreme goal scoring icon for Brentford (club record of 153 goals in 262 league
matches for the Bees), he was born locally and in his one season at Loftus Road, 1961/62, he made
his mark by scoring 16 goals in 32 league and Cup games, playing in the QPR team that scored an
incredible 111 goals and just missed out on promotion to Division 2.

He didn’t do “tap-ins” even when a few feet from the goal. Jim Towers had a thunderbolt of a shot
and one classic example of this was in a Rangers away league match at Watford on the 23rd September,
1961, when he smashed in a goal and the ball hit the inside metal stanchion and rebounded nearly to
the halfway line!

Alas, after being 2-0 up, Rangers let Watford score three times in the last 15 minutes and we lost 2-3.

At QPR FC when on the field of play, Jim was a very recognisable figure. He had a powerful build with
a greased short hairstyle, sometimes sporting an old fashioned centre parting that gave the appearance
of a pro-footballer from the 1930’s!

His attitude always seemed to me that of: “Let’s just get on with the game and score goals.” There was
never any angry reaction when he was on the receiving end of crunching, foul tackles, no arguing with
the ref and when he put the ball in the back of the net, there were no wild or outrageous celebrations.

I have often wondered why Jim’s goal scoring talents were not applied at a higher level of league football…
but perhaps if it were not for so many promotion near misses by both Brentford and QPR combined during
the 1957/62 era, they may well of been.

God Bless you Jim Towers – R.I.P.

Bernard Lambert (Kerrins)

Jim Towers was born on 15th April, 1933. The son of a bus driver, he was brought up at 92, Rayleigh Rd.
(which is now Lakeside Road I understand) London W14.

He began his football career as a Youth player at Brentford and went on to make his league debut in the
1954-55 Season. He teamed up with George Francis and this deadly partnership became known as the
‘Terrible Twins’. He was transferred with George Francis to QPR for ¬£8,000 in May 1961.

This decision by the Brentford Board infuriated the fans and apparently, they tried to buy them back again,
but the deal fell through. They had been Brentford’s leading goal scorers for no less than seven seasons.

Jim was sold to Millwall in August 1962 where he scored eight goals in 21 appearances.

The following January he was on the move again, this time to Gillingham, where he scored six goals in
eight appearances.

His final move in league football was in July 1963 to Aldershot and he went on to score 15 goals in 32
appearances before joining Romford in the summer of 1964 and then finally Gravesend.

At the end of his football career, he worked at Heathrow Airport for British Airways as a baggage handler
for 25 years. Following a short illness, Jim sadly passed away on 16th September 2010.

Rest In Peace Jim and God Bless.