Leslie Donald Bennett (10 January 1918 – 29 April 1999) 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 le ...

who played as an inside forward for

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...

and West Ham United.

Football career

Bennett joined Tottenham as a junior in May 1939. He spent much of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

years serving his country with the

Devon Regiment The Devonshire Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army that served under various titles and served in many wars and conflicts from 1685 to 1958, such as the Second Boer War, the First World War and the Second World War. In 1958 ...

Burma Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

, India and

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

, before making his

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

debut against

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Since 2011, the first te ...

on 31 August 1946. The quick- thinking, energetic inside forward was an important part of the push and run side of the 1950s. He made 294 appearances and scored on 124 occasions in all competitions for the club between 1946 and 1954. Bennett transferred to West Ham in December 1954 playing another 26 matches and scoring three goals. In August 1956 he became player–coach for Clacton before finishing his football career at

Romford Romford is a large town in east London and the administrative centre of the London Borough of Havering. It is located northeast of Charing Cross and is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the London Plan. Historically, Romford ...

in 1959–60.

Honours

Tottenham Hotspur *

Football League Second Division The Football League Second Division was the second level division in the English football league system between 1892 and 1992. Following the foundation of the FA Premier League, the Football League divisions were renumbered and the third ti ...

winner: 1949–50 *

Football League First Division The Football League First Division was a division of the Football League in England from 1888 until 2004. It was the top division in the English football league system from the season 1888–89 until 1991–92, a century in which the First ...

winner: 1950–51 * Football League First Division runner-up: 1951–52

Post-football career

Bennett managed a caravan site in Clacton and was employed as a security guard at the University of Essex before retiring. He came out of retirement in 1964 to play in a "Push and Run" XI for the John White memorial fund.

References

External links

Tottenham Hotspur F.C A-Z of players
Retrieved 29 November 2012 *
Guardian newspaper obituary
Retrieved 13 May 2009 {{DEFAULTSORT:Bennett, Les 1918 births 1999 deaths Footballers from Wood Green English men's footballers Men's association football inside forwards Tottenham Hotspur F.C. players West Ham United F.C. players Romford F.C. players Military personnel from Middlesex F.C. Clacton players English Football League players English football managers F.C. Clacton managers British Army personnel of World War II Devonshire Regiment soldiers