Lewis Caunce (20 April 1911 - 1978) was an English professional

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

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 ...

of the 1930s. Born in

Earlestown Earlestown is a town and electoral ward in the Metropolitan Borough of St Helens in Merseyside, England. It forms the western part of the wider Newton-le-Willows urban area. At the 2011 Census the ward population was 10,830. History Earlestow ...

, he joined

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, at the foothills of the South Pennines in the dale on the River Roch, northwest of Oldham and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough ...

from

Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The team have played home games at the Kirklees Stadium since moving from Leeds Road in 1994. Th ...

in 1932, where he made 18 appearances for the club. He left to join

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club () is an English professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, ...

in 1933, spending two seasons with the Cheshire League club before returning to the Football League with

Oldham Athletic Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The history of Oldham Athletic be ...

in 1935. On Boxing Day 1935, Caunce played in goal for Oldham in their 4–13 defeat against

Tranmere Rovers Tranmere Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. The team compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1884 as Belmont Football Club, they ado ...

, a Football League record for most goals scored in a game. Caunce notably saved a penalty during the game to prevent Tranmere centre forward Bunny Bell from scoring 10 goals, and Caunce's teammate Tommy Williamson remarked years later that despite the scoreline, the keeper had "played a blinder". Caunce played 134 league games for Oldham before his football career was ended prematurely by the outbreak of the Second World War.

References

1911 births 1978 deaths English footballers People from Newton-le-Willows Huddersfield Town A.F.C. players Rochdale A.F.C. players Oldham Athletic A.F.C. players Wigan Athletic F.C. players Association football goalkeepers {{England-footy-goalkeeper-stub