An oddity of the 1953-54 season was that Southampton met their (then) Hampshire neighbours, Bournemouth, four times – twice in the First Round of the FA Cup, a round from which the Saints had been exempt since 1926, and then for their first-ever League meetings over Christmas. Honours were even in the League, but the Cherries won the Cup replay at Dean Court. The thorn in the Saints’ side in those games was the free-scoring Frank Fidler, but it was Len Gaynor, who scored in the Christmas Day fixture at Bournemouth, whom George Roughton brought to The Dell in time for him to play in 12 of that season’s last 14 games at inside-forward for the Saints.

Yet that was the end of Len’s first-team career at Southampton. As Johnny Walker and new arrival, Tommy Mulgrew, commandeered the inside-forward slots in 1954-55, Gaynor was in the Reserves side that won the Combination Cup, before Third South Aldershot, managed by Harry Evans (see below) became his third Hampshire club and he became their captain.

After which, he lasted only half-a-season at Third North Oldham, before his career ended with a badly-broken leg at Southern League Yeovil. Len now reverted to his original trade of carpentry. In 1983, he set up a building business (L&G Builders) near Bournemouth, with Gary his son, and continued to be involved in the trade well into his seventies. He died just four days after his 92^nd birthday.