Kenneth Todd (born 24 August 1957) is an English former footballer who scored 11 goals in 52 games in the English Football League for Wolverhampton Wanderers, Port Vale, and Portsmouth in the late 1970s. Despite being bought for £37,000 by Vale and £20,000 by "Pompey", he dropped into the Southern League with Fareham Town and Waterlooville.

Career

Wolverhampton Wanderers

Todd began his career at

Sammy Chung Cyril Chung (16 July 1932 – 28 August 2022), better known as Sammy Chung, was an English football player and manager, one of the first Anglo-Chinese players in English football. Playing career Chung was born in Abingdon-on-Thames to a Chines ...

's Wolverhampton Wanderers, having been

scout Scout may refer to: Youth movement *Scout (Scouting), a child, usually 10–18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement **Scouts (The Scout Association), section for 10-14 year olds in the United Kingdom **Scouts BSA, sectio ...

ed by Joe Mycock, who lived opposite his school in Staindrop. He joined the club as an apprentice on his 15th birthday after a trial in the summer of 1972, despite advances from Middlesbrough and Birmingham City, as he was impressed by the club providing him with tickets for the

1972 UEFA Cup Final The 1972 UEFA Cup Final was the final of the first UEFA Cup football tournament. It was a two-legged contest played on 3 May and 17 May 1972 between two English clubs, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Tottenham Hotspur. This was the first UEFA club com ...

against Tottenham Hotspur. He was a member of the 1976

FA Youth Cup The Football Association Youth Challenge Cup is an English football competition run by The Football Association for under-18 sides. Only those players between the age of 15 and 18 on 31 August of the current season are eligible to take part. It ...

side that were beaten 5–0 on

aggregate Aggregate or aggregates may refer to: Computing and mathematics * collection of objects that are bound together by a root entity, otherwise known as an aggregate root. The aggregate root guarantees the consistency of changes being made within the ...

in the final by Black Country derby rivals West Bromwich Albion. He made his debut for the senior team on 6 November 1976, in a 3–1 victory over Millwall at Molineux. He went on to make a further four appearances, scoring one goal against Hereford United, as Wolves won promotion as champions of the Second Division in 1976–77. Wolves then finished 15th in the First Division in 1977–78, and Todd featured in only one game, a home defeat to Nottingham Forest.

Port Vale

Despite his lack of experience, Port Vale manager

Dennis Butler Dennis Anthony Butler (born 24 June 1944) is an English former football player and manager. He played as a winger for Bolton Wanderers between 1959 and 1968, before ending his playing career following a five-year spell at Rochdale. Later wor ...

broke a club record to purchase him for a £37,000 fee in August 1978. However, he struggled to live up to his price tag and was singled out for abuse at Vale Park. He scored eight goals in 42

Fourth Division Fourth or the fourth may refer to: * the ordinal form of the number 4 * ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971 * Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision * Fourth (music), a musical interval * ''The Fourth'' (1972 film), a Sovie ...

and FA Cup games in the 1978–79 season. He lost his first team place under new boss Alan Bloor in August 1979, and played just three games in the 1979–80 season before he was sold on to Portsmouth for £20,000 in October.

Portsmouth and later career

He scored just one goal in three Fourth Division games for

Frank Burrows Frank Burrows (30 January 1944 – 24 November 2021) was a Scottish football player and manager who played as a central defender. Life and career Frank Burrows began his football career at Scottish club Raith Rovers. In 1965 he moved south ...

's "Pompey" in the 1979–80 promotion campaign. He left

Fratton Park Fratton Park is a football ground in Portsmouth, England, which is the home of Portsmouth F.C. Fratton Park remains as the only home football ground in Portsmouth FC's entire history. The early Fratton Park was designed by local architect A ...

and later played for Fareham Town ( Southern League) and Waterlooville. He scored 50 goals in one season for the "Hawks" and later worked as Havant's player-manager. Todd also returned to Portsmouth as the youth team manager. In a 2014 interview he stated that he was "amazed" when Burrows offered him the position as the pair had fallen out the moment he first arrived at the club.

Personal life

Todd married Suzanne and had a daughter, Ella.

Career statistics

Source:

Honours

Wolverhampton Wanderers *

runner-up: 1976

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Todd, Ken 1957 births Living people Footballers from County Durham English men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. players Port Vale F.C. players Portsmouth F.C. players Fareham Town F.C. players Waterlooville F.C. players Havant Town F.C. players English Football League players Southern Football League players Men's association football player-managers English football managers Portsmouth F.C. non-playing staff