Martin Britt (born 17 January 1946) is an English former

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 ...

. He played as a

centre forward Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

for West Ham United from 1961 to 1966 before injury ended his career whilst playing for Blackburn Rovers.

Career

West Ham United

Spotted playing youth team football, for Essex and London schoolboys, by West Ham chief scout,

Wally St Pier Stanley Walter St Pier (8 October 1904 – 1989) was an English footballer and scout. Career St Pier arrived at West Ham United from Ilford in April 1929 making his senior debut in October 1929 against Leicester City. Spending most of his tim ...

, Britt signed for West Ham in 1961. He won three England youth team caps and played in both legs of the 1963 Youth Cup final against

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

. Britt made his full debut for West Ham in May 1963 against Blackburn Rovers. Finding opportunities limited behind strikers Johnny Byrne and Geoff Hurst he still managed four goals from eleven appearances in season 1963–64. Serious injury then struck when during a training session he suffered what was thought to be

cruciate Cruciate, and similar words, can mean: *The cruciate ligaments in the knee *For a magic spell in the Harry Potter scenario, see crucio *Latin and early-English word for crusade The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supporte ...

ligament A ligament is the fibrous connective tissue that connects bones to other bones. It is also known as ''articular ligament'', ''articular larua'', ''fibrous ligament'', or ''true ligament''. Other ligaments in the body include the: * Peritoneal li ...

damage but later proved to be a chipped bone in the knee joint. Failing to make a single appearance the following season he did score three goals from 14 appearances the next season; mostly aided by using his left leg and avoiding jumping using his damaged right leg.

Blackburn Rovers

Finding his selection chances still limited Britt fell out with manager

Ron Greenwood Ronald Greenwood CBE (11 November 1921 – 9 February 2006) was an English football player and manager, best known for being manager of the English national football team from 1977 until 1982, as well as being manager of West Ham United for 13 ...

and, despite still carrying a bad injury to his right knee, he transferred to Blackburn Rovers in 1967 for £25,000. He made just eight appearances for Blackburn BLACKBURN ROVERS : 1946/47 - 2008/09
/ref> before an exploratory operation discovered a broken knee and resulted in a piece of bone being removed from his knee. He would not play another game and retired from injury aged only 21. Understandably annoyed Blackburn felt they had been ripped-off and that Britt's injury had not been fully revealed to them before his transfer. After a disagreement between the two clubs Blackburn gained some of Britt's transfer fee back. Unable to play he remained at Blackburn for eighteen months in a coaching capacity. Leaving football he later started his own successful textile business.

References

External links

West Ham stats
1946 births Living people People from Leigh-on-Sea English men's footballers Men's association football forwards West Ham United F.C. players Blackburn Rovers F.C. players English Football League players Footballers from Essex {{England-footy-forward-1940s-stub