Derek Saunders (6 January 1928 – 3 March 2018) was an English footballer who played for
Chelsea
Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to:
Places Australia
* Chelsea, Victoria
Canada
* Chelsea, Nova Scotia
* Chelsea, Quebec
United Kingdom
* Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames
** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...
during the 1950s.
Biography
Born in
Ware
Ware may refer to:
People
* Ware (surname)
* William of Ware (), English Franciscan theologian
Places Canada
* Fort Ware, British Columbia
United Kingdom
* Ware, Devon
*Ware, Hertfordshire
* Ware, Kent
United States
* Ware, Elmore County ...
, for whose
Spartan League
The Spartan League was a football league in England covering London and adjacent counties. Established in 1907, it merged with the South Midlands League in 1997 to form the Spartan South Midlands League.
History
The Spartan League was establish ...
side he made 31 appearances in 1945–46 as its youngest ever captain, Saunders played in a number of positions. He matured into a wing-half and furthered his career with
amateur side
Walthamstow Avenue, who he captained in their 1952
FA Amateur Cup Final win. He joined Chelsea in June 1953 and immediately turned professional, making his club debut against
Sheffield United
Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games at ...
.
Saunders was a member of Chelsea's
1954–55 Championship
In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion.
Championship systems
Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship.
Title match system
In this system ...
-winning team. He was one of only two players to play in every game that season. Saunders' position meant that he rarely scored goals, but he scored a crucial one against
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 ...
to put Chelsea 3-2 ahead after they had trailed 0–2; they eventually won 4–2. He stayed with Chelsea for a further four seasons, though they were unable to repeat their title success. He featured in the first Chelsea side to play in a
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...
an competition, the
Inter-Cities Fairs Cup in 1958. A year earlier, he had played for the representative
London XI side in the same competition. He made 223 appearances for Chelsea, and scored nine goals. Upon leaving the club in 1959, Saunders became the Head Groundsman at Vincent Square, the central London playing fields for
Westminster School
(God Gives the Increase)
, established = Earliest records date from the 14th century, refounded in 1560
, type = Public school Independent day and boarding school
, religion = Church of England
, head_label = Hea ...
.
References
External links
*
Profile of Derek Saunders
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saunders, Derek
1928 births
2018 deaths
Walthamstow Avenue F.C. players
Chelsea F.C. players
English footballers
People from Ware, Hertfordshire
Olympic footballers for Great Britain
Footballers at the 1952 Summer Olympics
English Football League players
London XI players
Men's association football midfielders
Footballers from Hertfordshire