Leslie Dennis Medley (3 September 1920 – 22 February 2001) was an English

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

left winger A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

. Born in

Edmonton, London Edmonton is a town in north London, England within the London Borough of Enfield, a local government district of Greater London. The northern part of the town is known as Lower Edmonton or Edmonton Green, and the southern part as Upper Edmont ...

, aged 11 he gained a scholarship place at the Latymer School in Edmonton. He played for the school team and was selected for the schoolboys' England eleven. Medley joined

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

in 1939 and appeared as a guest player for

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, hav ...

World War II 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 opposing ...

. Medley was a key man in the Tottenham Hotspur's famous 'push and run' side that won the First Division championship in 1950-51 having won the Second Division the season before, when Les was top scorer. He also won six

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

caps. He left London in 1953 and joined the Canadian champions Toronto Ulster United in the National Soccer League, joining Len Garwood his former Tottenham teammate.

References

1920 births 2001 deaths English footballers England men's international footballers Tottenham Hotspur F.C. players People educated at The Latymer School West Ham United F.C. wartime guest players English Football League players English Football League representative players English expatriate footballers Expatriate soccer players in Canada Men's association football midfielders Footballers from Edmonton, London Toronto Ulster United players Canadian National Soccer League players English expatriate sportspeople in Canada {{England-footy-forward-1920s-stub