Harry Baven Penton (1890–1967) 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

centre-forward Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

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 ...

and

Boscombe Boscombe is a suburb of Bournemouth, England. Historically in Hampshire, but today in Dorset, it is located to the east of Bournemouth town centre and west of Southbourne. Originally a sparsely inhabited area of heathland, from around 1865 B ...

prior to the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

Playing career

Penton was born in

Bournemouth Bournemouth () is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council area of Dorset, England. At the 2011 census, the town had a population of 183,491, making it the largest town in Dorset. It is situated on the Southern ...

in early 1890 and was a prolific marksman in his minor league days, scoring 60 in one season with

Pokesdown Pokesdown is a suburb of Bournemouth in Dorset, England. It lies just east of Boscombe and west of Southbourne. History Evidence of human occupation in the area dates back to the Bronze Age. In 1909 when Lock's Field was being developed into wha ...

and 26 in another for

. His form attracted him to Southern League

who were suffering from a lack of a suitable centre-forward, as the regular choice,

Percy Prince Percy Prince (15 August 1887 – December 1973) was an English amateur footballer who played as a centre-forward for Southampton and Boscombe in the early 20th century. Football career Prince was born in Liverpool but was raised in Southampton ...

was injured and replacement

Sid Kimpton Gabriel Sibley "Sid" Kimpton, also known as George Kimpton, (12 August 1887 – 15 February 1968) was an English football player, who spent his entire playing career with Southampton and subsequently became a manager in Europe. Playing career K ...

was not scoring regularly. Penton moved across 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, featu ...

in February 1911 and made his debut for Southampton at

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building ...

on 25 February 1911, scoring in his home debut at The Dell in his next match (against

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings whi ...

). He retained his place until the end of the season, although he failed to live up to expectations with only three goals from twelve appearances. For the following season, the "Saints" signed Henry Hamilton and Penton only made one appearance, playing at

inside-right Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

in place of

Archie Small Archibald Rammell Small (1889–1955) was an English amateur footballer who played at inside-forward for Southampton in the years prior to World War I. Football career Small was born in Droitwich, Worcestershire and was a prominent member of t ...

on 16 September. He returned to Boscombe in January 1912 for a fee of £10 and became their first ever professional player on a wage of 30

shilling The shilling is a historical coin, and the name of a unit of modern currencies formerly used in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, other British Commonwealth countries and Ireland, where they were generally equivalent to 12 pence o ...

s (£1.50) per week. In September 1912 he returned to The Dell but made only one further appearance. He once again returned across the New Forest to Boscombe, but in 1914 he joined Eastleigh Athletic where he remained until 1928, now playing as

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 ...

rather than

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Penton, Baven 1890 births People from Boscombe 1967 deaths English footballers Association football goalkeepers Association football forwards Southampton F.C. players AFC Bournemouth players Southern Football League players Eastleigh Athletic F.C. players Outfield association footballers who played in goal