Ronald Leslie Rooke (7 December 1911 – 9 June 1985) 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, rugb ...

who 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 ...

. During his three decades' playing career he scored at least 931 goals in 1029 official matches, among which more than 765 league goals at all levels. According to the

RSSSF The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation (RSSSF) is an international organization dedicated to collecting statistics about association football. The foundation aims to build an exhaustive archive of football-related information from around the ...

he is the best league goalscorer of all time, and the third overall behind

Erwin Helmchen Erwin Helmchen (10 May 1907 – 8 June 1981) was a German footballer who played as a striker. He is the most prolific goalscorer in official matches in recorded history according to RSSSF with at least 987 goals scored in 577 official matches, ...

and Josef Bican.

Playing career

Rooke was born in

Guildford Guildford () is a town in west Surrey, around southwest of central London. As of the 2011 census, the town has a population of about 77,000 and is the seat of the wider Borough of Guildford, which had around inhabitants in . The name "Guildf ...

, Surrey, and began his playing career with local club

Guildford City Guildford City Football Club (formerly Guildford United and AFC Guildford) is a football club based in Guildford, Surrey, England. The club was established in 1921, folded in 1974 and was reformed in 1996. Guildford City play in the . History ...

. He then had a spell with

Woking Woking ( ) is a town and borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in northwest Surrey, England, around from central London. It appears in Domesday Book as ''Wochinges'' and its name probably derives from that of a Anglo-Saxon settlement o ...

in 1932–33 during which he scored 29 goals from 16 appearances in all competitions. In 1933, he joined

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building ...

, who were at the time in the

Third Division South The Third Division South of The Football League was a tier in the English football league system from 1921 to 1958. It ran in parallel with the Third Division North with clubs elected to the League or relegated from Division Two allocated to on ...

. He played mainly for the Palace reserve side, only playing eighteen league matches and scoring six goals between 1933 and 1936. He then moved to

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

club

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandsworth ...

for a £300 fee in November 1936. He was the club's leading scorer for three consecutive seasons and contributed all six goals in a 6–0

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

demolition of

Bury Bury may refer to: *The burial of human remains *-bury, a suffix in English placenames Places England * Bury, Cambridgeshire, a village * Bury, Greater Manchester, a town, historically in Lancashire ** Bury (UK Parliament constituency) (1832–19 ...

, which is still () a club record. He had scored 57 goals in 87 league matches for Fulham before the outbreak of the second world war. However, Rooke's career did not stop, serving as a

physical training instructor Physical training instructor (PTI) is a term used primarily in the British Armed Forces and British police, as well as some other Commonwealth countries, for an instructor in physical fitness. United Kingdom In the British Army, specialist Ph ...

in the

RAF The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

, enabled him to continue playing, where he made 199 appearances in the wartime games for Fulham, scoring 212 goals. He also won a Wartime International cap for

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 ...

in 1942, against

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

. In 1945, Rooke had guested for Arsenal in a match against the touring

Dynamo Moscow MGO VFSO "Dynamo" (russian: МГО ВФСО «Динамо»), commonly known as Dynamo Moscow (russian: Динамо Москва) is a Russian sports club based in Moscow. Founded by Felix Dzerzhinsky on 18 April 1923, Dynamo Moscow was the first ...

team. The resumption of league football in 1946 saw Rooke score a further 13 goals in 18 appearances for Fulham, before a surprising transfer to the first division strugglers Arsenal in December that year. Rooke left Fulham after scoring 70 goals in 105 league appearances for the club. Despite being 35 years old and never having played in the top flight, the Gunners paid £1,000 with two players, Cyril Grant and

Dave Nelson David Earl Nelson (June 20, 1944 – April 22, 2018) was an American professional baseball infielder. He played in Major League Baseball for the Cleveland Indians, Washington Senators / Texas Rangers, and Kansas City Royals from 1968 through 19 ...

moving to Craven Cottage. However surprising the signing may have been, Rooke made an immediate impact: he scored the winner on his debut, against

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, south-east London, which compete in . Their home ground is The Valley, where the club have played since 1919. They have also played at The Mount in ...

on 14 December 1946, and by the end of the season had taken his total to 21 goals from 24 league matches and helped Arsenal finish in mid-table. He scored 33 league goals in 1947–48, a total that made him that season's First Division top scorer, and helped propel the Gunners to their sixth League title. He remains () Arsenal's all-time record-holder for the most goals scored in a postwar season. Rooke scored another 15 goals in 1948–49, including one in Arsenal's 4–3 victory over Manchester United in the 1948 FA Charity Shield. Select season required. For the Gunners Rooke scored 70 goals in 94 matches in all competitions. In total he scored 170 goals from 256 appearances in the Football League for

and Arsenal. His goal exploits continued in non-league football, becoming a player-manager for various clubs before his eventual retirement, ending a career that stretched over thirty years.

Managerial career

Rooke left Arsenal in the summer of 1949, to rejoin former club Crystal Palace as

player-manager A player-coach (also playing coach, captain-coach, or player-manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. A player-coach may be a head coach or an assistant coach. They may make changes to the s ...

. His first season as manager was moderately successful as Palace finished seventh in the Third Division South. The next season began poorly, and in November 1950 he moved on to Bedford Town, having increased his appearances and goals totals for Palace to 63 and 32 respectively. He initially featured as a player for Bedford, before being appointed player-manager in February 1951, a job he held until December 1953. During this spell at the club Rooke scored 97 goals from 136 appearances in all competitions. He then moved on to become player-manager at Haywards Heath Town and

Addlestone Addlestone ( or ) is a town in Surrey, England. It is located approximately southwest of London. The town is the administrative centre of the Runnymede (borough), Borough of Runnymede, of which it is the largest settlement. History The town is ...

, before returning to Bedford in 1959. Although his second spell saw him appointed only as a manager, he made two first team appearances when the club were lacking players. He was sacked after the club lost an FA Cup match against

Hitchin Town Hitchin Town Football Club is an English semi-professional football club based in Hitchin, Hertfordshire. They are currently members of the . Founded in 1865 and known as 'The Canaries', Hitchin Town have been based at Top Field since their fou ...

in September 1961.

Personal life

Rooke later worked at Heathrow Airport and

Whitbread brewery Whitbread plc is a multinational British hotel and restaurant company headquartered in Houghton Regis, England. The business was founded as a brewery in 1742, and had become the largest brewery in the world by the 1780s. Its largest division ...

. He died of lung cancer in June 1985.

Honours

As player

Arsenal * First Division: 1947–48 * FA Charity Shield: 1948

As manager

Bedford Town * Huntingdonshire Premier Cup: 1951–52

Individual

* First Division top scorer: 1947–48 * Daily Express Footballer of the Season: 1947–48

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rooke, Ronnie 1911 births Military personnel from Guildford Sportspeople from Guildford 1985 deaths English footballers England wartime international footballers Association football forwards Guildford City F.C. players Woking F.C. players Crystal Palace F.C. players Fulham F.C. players Arsenal F.C. players Crystal Palace F.C. managers Bedford Town F.C. players Haywards Heath Town F.C. players Addlestone & Weybridge Town F.C. players Southern Football League players English Football League players First Division/Premier League top scorers English football managers Bedford Town F.C. managers Haywards Heath Town F.C. managers Addlestone & Weybridge Town F.C. managers Southern Football League managers Deaths from lung cancer in England Footballers from Surrey Royal Air Force personnel of World War II Royal Air Force Physical Training instructors