Herbert Richard Scriven (2 February 1908 – 2001) was an English professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who played as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

for

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

in the 1930s.

Football career

Scriven was born in Winsor on the edge of the

New Forest The New Forest is one of the largest remaining tracts of unenclosed pasture land, heathland and forest in Southern England, covering southwest Hampshire and southeast Wiltshire. It was proclaimed a royal forest by William the Conqueror, fea ...

and started his football career with local non-league sides

Andover Andover may refer to: Places Australia *Andover, Tasmania Canada * Andover Parish, New Brunswick * Perth-Andover, New Brunswick United Kingdom * Andover, Hampshire, England ** RAF Andover, a former Royal Air Force station United States * Andove ...

and Totton before he joined

in December 1929. He made his first-team debut when he took over from the veteran Willie White for the fourth match of the 1930–31 Second Division season on 8 September 1930, a 2–1 defeat at

Oldham Athletic Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The history of Oldham Athletic be ...

. Scriven soon became established as first-choice goalkeeper although he lost his place to White for the last eight matches of the season. White retained the No. 1 shirt for the first seven matches of the following season, before Scriven claimed it back in September 1931. From then on, Scriven rarely missed a match over the next two and a half years until February 1934 when manager

George Kay George Kay (21 September 1891 – 18 April 1954) was an English football player and manager of Luton Town, Southampton and Liverpool. The highlight of his playing career was when he captained West Ham United in the first FA Cup final to be play ...

replaced him with the 20-year-old Billy Light. Scriven was recalled when Light displaced his left

knee cap The patella, also known as the kneecap, is a flat, rounded triangular bone which articulates with the femur (thigh bone) and covers and protects the anterior articular surface of the knee joint. The patella is found in many tetrapods, such as m ...

in a collision after only four matches, and retained the goalkeeper's shirt until March 1935 when, after a run of eight matches without a victory, Kay once again replaced him with Light. In March 1936, Light was sold to

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was formed in 1878 and has pl ...

for a fee of £2,000 to help reduce the club's debts, and Scriven was once again recalled to the side. He retained his place as first-choice custodian until he retired in the summer of 1937. In his seven seasons with the Saints, Scriven made a total of 233 first-team appearances.

Later life

Following his retirement, Scriven became the licensee at the Bear and Ragged Staff pub at

Michelmersh Michelmersh is a small, scattered village in Hampshire, England some three miles () north of Romsey. It forms a civil parish with Timsbury, Hampshire, Timsbury that forms part of the Test Valley district. The Monarch's Way long-distance footpath ...

, near Romsey. During this time, he made a few appearances for Salisbury City. After World War II, he moved to a farm near Marlow where he was still living in 1992.

References

External links

Video of Scriven training with Southampton in 1934Bear and Ragged Staff website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Scriven, Bert 1908 births 2001 deaths People from New Forest District English men's footballers Men's association football goalkeepers English Football League players Southampton F.C. players Andover F.C. players A.F.C. Totton players Salisbury City F.C. (1905) players Footballers from Hampshire