Roy William Stroud (15 March 1925 – 4 June 2015) was an English professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

inside right who played as an outside right for

Hendon Hendon is an urban area in the Borough of Barnet, North-West London northwest of Charing Cross. Hendon was an ancient manor and parish in the county of Middlesex and a former borough, the Municipal Borough of Hendon; it has been part of Great ...

, West Ham United and Chelmsford City. He was capped by England at amateur level.

Footballing career

Born in

Silvertown Silvertown is a district in the London Borough of Newham, in east London, England. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, Thames and was historically part of the parishes of West Ham and East Ham, Becontree Hundred, hundred of Becontr ...

, London, his parents moved to Hounslow when he was young. Stroud started playing with London and Middlesex boys before being selected for England boys as an outside right. During the Second World War he was a guest player for

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

and

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings whi ...

. Stroud then played for Hendon before moving to West Ham in February 1952 and making his debut against Notts County on 14 April 1952. It was his only

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appearance that season. He would have to wait over 18 months for his next appearance. In this game, on 7 November 1953, Stroud scored his first goal for West Ham in a 5–0 home win against

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 ...

. He also scored in his next game, on 14 November 1953, a 3–1 away defeat by Oldham Athletic. His run of games amounted to only four that season, one in 1954–55, two in 1955–56 and five in his final season, 1956–57. He played only 15 times in his West Ham career in all competitions, scoring four goals before signing for Chelmsford City in 1957. On 8 November 1958, in a game against Yiewsley, Stroud suffered a broken leg, subsequently ending his playing career.

Death

Stroud died on 4 June 2015 in Devon at age 90, having been suffering with dementia. He was the oldest surviving West Ham United player at the time of his death.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stroud, Roy 1925 births 2015 deaths Footballers from the London Borough of Newham People from Silvertown English men's footballers Men's association football forwards Hendon F.C. players West Ham United F.C. players Chelmsford City F.C. players English Football League players Arsenal F.C. wartime guest players Brentford F.C. wartime guest players Deaths from dementia in England England men's amateur international footballers England men's youth international footballers