[1] He signed with Coventry City after the war, and scored three goals in 13 league games for the "Bantams" as the Second Division club posted mid-table finishes in 1946–47, 1947–48, and 1948–49 under the stewardship of Billy Frith and Harry Storer.
He scored two goals in four Third Division South games for Tom Bromilow's Newport County in the 1949–50 season.
[1] Gardner was a solid defensive player,[2][3] who formed a productive opening partnership with Norman Horner for Warwickshire.
[4] He played 338 first-class matches for the county between 1947 and 1961, and also made one appearance for an England XI against the touring South Africans in 1955 and one for the Players against the Gentlemen in 1957.
[2] He was an ever-present in the 1951 season when Warwickshire won the County Championship, he contributed 1,338 runs and 27 catches to the success.