Sydney Charles Puddefoot (17 October 1894 – 2 October 1972) 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 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 ...

Falkirk Falkirk ( gd, An Eaglais Bhreac, sco, Fawkirk) is a large town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, historically within the county of Stirlingshire. It lies in the Forth Valley, northwest of Edinburgh and northeast of Glasgow. Falkirk had a ...

and

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. T ...

. He played mainly as a centre forward or

inside right 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 ...

. He was also a

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

er for

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

. He went on to coach at Fenerbahçe, and manage

Galatasaray Galatasaray Spor Kulübü (, ''Galatasaray Sports Club'') is a Turkish sports club based on the European side of the city of Istanbul in Turkey. Most notable for its association football department, the club also consists of various other de ...

and

Northampton Town Northampton Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Northampton, England. The team plays in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1897, the club competed in the Midland ...

Club career

Early years and West Ham United

Puddefoot was born in

Limehouse Limehouse is a district in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in East London. It is east of Charing Cross, on the northern bank of the River Thames. Its proximity to the river has given it a strong maritime character, which it retains throug ...

in the

East End of London The East End of London, often referred to within the London area simply as the East End, is the historic core of wider East London, east of the Roman and medieval walls of the City of London and north of the River Thames. It does not have uni ...

. He was a pupil at Park School in

West Ham West Ham is an area in East London, located east of Charing Cross in the west of the modern London Borough of Newham. The area, which lies immediately to the north of the River Thames and east of the River Lea, was originally an ancien ...

and played junior football with Condor Athletic and Limehouse Town before being spotted by West Ham United in a London Juniors match against Surrey Juniors. He initially joined the Hammers as an amateur but signed on as a professional before the start of the 1913–14 season. Under the tutelage of coach and future manager

Charlie Paynter Charlie Paynter (28 July 1879 in Swindon – 1 December 1971) was the manager of West Ham United from 1932 to 1950. He moved to Plaistow with his family as a child. He played for the local teams Victoria Swifts and South West Ham, but while ...

, he quickly developed into a formidable force and scored 28 goals in 55 Southern League appearances for the club. He broke the club record for most individual goals scored in an

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 ...

match, landing five (including a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...

in seven minutes) in an 8–1 mauling of

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in a first-round game on 10 January 1914. The record remains to this day and is also West Ham's biggest victory in the competition.

Wartime

Puddefoot worked at a

munitions Ammunition (informally ammo) is the material fired, scattered, dropped, or detonated from any weapon or weapon system. Ammunition is both expendable weapons (e.g., bombs, missiles, grenades, land mines) and the component parts of other weap ...

factory for most of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and was not called up for service until late on in the conflict. He made 126 appearances in the wartime

London Combination The Football Combination was a football competition for the reserve teams of English Football League clubs from Southern England, the Midlands and Wales; other clubs from the Midlands and those from the North playing in the Central League (it is n ...

and scored nearly 100 goals, including seven against

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in April 1918 (a record for the competition). On 8 September 1917, he played against

QPR Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional association football, football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England, which compete in the . After a nomadic early existence, they have played home ...

in their first game at

Loftus Road Loftus Road is a football stadium in White City, London, England, which is home to Queens Park Rangers. In 1981, it became the first stadium in British professional football to have an artificial pitch of Omniturf installed. This remained in ...

, scoring a hat-trick. During his service, he was stationed at

Bridge of Allan Bridge of Allan ( sco, Brig Allan, gd, Drochaid Ailein), also known colloquially as ''Bofa'', is a town in the Stirling council area in Scotland, just north of the city of Stirling. Overlooked by the National Wallace Monument, it lies on the ...

in Stirlingshire and guested for

during his time in Scotland.

After the war and Falkirk

After the end of the war, Puddefoot played in the newly enlarged Football League Division Two for the 1919–20 season. He scored 21 goals for West Ham that season, and was selected to play 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 three

Victory International The term Victory International or Victory Internationals refers to two series of international football matches played by the national football teams of England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales at the end of both the First and Second World Wars. The ...

games (he scored in all three). He then scored 29 goals in the 1920–21 season and 14 in 1921–22. Puddefoot's exploits made him much sought after and

, who had witnessed the player first-hand, won the battle for his transfer on 7 February 1922. The fee of £5,000 was a

world football transfer record The following is a list of most expensive association football transfers, which details the highest transfer fees ever paid for players, as well as transfers which set new world transfer records. The first recorded record transfer was of Willie ...

, and represented the only time a Scottish team has broken the record. So eager were the Falkirk supporters to land their man that they themselves set up a public fund to raise money for the purchase. Puddefoot himself earned a £390 fee for agreeing the transfer. His younger brother

Len Len or LEN may refer to: People and fictional characters * Len (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Lén, a character from Irish mythology * Alex Len (born 1993), Ukrainian basketball player * Mr. Len, American hip hop DJ *Le ...

followed him to Falkirk at the start of the following season for a month's trial, but only made a single appearance.Sources including ''Who's Who of West Ham United'' (Hogg, 2005) state that the move was part of the same deal. The record would last less than a month, however, as

Warney Cresswell Warneford Cresswell (5 November 1897 – 20 October 1973) was an English international footballer who was described as "The Prince of Full Backs" for his renowned tackling and positional skills in the right-back position. In a seventeen-year ca ...

was transferred from

South Shields South Shields () is a coastal town in South Tyneside, Tyne and Wear, England. It is on the south bank of the mouth of the River Tyne. Historically, it was known in Roman times as Arbeia, and as Caer Urfa by Early Middle Ages. According to the 20 ...

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

for £5,500 on 3 March 1922. Puddefoot spent three seasons at Brockville Park, scoring 45 goals in 113 league appearances.

Blackburn Rovers

Puddefoot joined

on 3 February 1925 for £4,000, making his debut at

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 ...

on 7 February 1925. He won the

with Blackburn in 1928. He set up the opening goal in the first minute of the match when he shoulder-charged Billy Mercer, the

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 opponents

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 ...

, with Jack Roscamp following-up to score. In 1929, Puddefoot was among the first to take advantage of the new FA rule that allowed for personal hearings for disciplinary matters, after his sending off against

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club () is a professional football club based in Horwich, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in . The club played at Burnden Park for 102 years from 1895 after moving from their original home at Pike's ...

. He left Blackburn, having scored 87 goals in 267 appearances in all competitions.

Return to West Ham United

On 26 February 1932, ten years after leaving his boyhood club, and at the age of 37, Syd returned to east London to help with the ultimately doomed effort to avoid

relegation In sports leagues, promotion and relegation is a process where teams are transferred between multiple divisions based on their performance for the completed season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are often called open leagues. ...

in the 1931–32 season. He made seven appearances that season without return, and managed three goals in 15 appearances the following season. He played his 192nd and final game for West Ham on 6 March 1933, scoring the last of his 107 goals for the club.

International career

Puddefoot's three Victory International games did not count as official appearances. He did, however, gain official

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. Caps typically have a visor, or no brim at all. They are popular in casual and informal se ...

s when he played twice for

in the British Home Championship, once in 1925 and once in 1926.

Cricket career

Puddefoot played cricket for

and had shown promise before leaving for Scotland. He appeared in eight first-class matches in 1922 and 1923, travelling back to Essex during summers while he was with Falkirk.

Coaching career

After the end of his playing career, Puddefoot travelled to

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

to coach at Fenerbahçe, where he teamed up with József Schweng, the club's first foreign manager. He saw early success with the club, winning the 1932–33 Istanbul Football League championship. However, he had a poor relationship with the Hungarian manager and he moved to

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

rivals

for the 1933–34 season. In February 1934, he was involved in an incident in which he was manhandled while trying to calm down players during a game. Play had to be suspended and police were called in when the crowd invaded the pitch. As a result, 17 of the 22 players who were involved in the match were suspended by the

Turkish Football Association The Turkish Football Federation (; TFF) is the governing body of association football in Turkey. It was formed on 23 April 1923, and joined FIFA the same year and UEFA in 1962. It organizes the Turkey national football team, the Turkish Footba ...

. Puddefoot returned to England in 1934 for the birth of his child. He played twice for St. Annes FC of the Ribblesdale League in June 1934. He worked as an FA instructor to Kent Secondary Schoolboys, replacing Wally Hardinge in the role in 1935, but left to take on the managers role at

. He joined the East Midlands club on 8 March 1935 and stayed for two years, resigning on 10 March 1937 after a disagreement over club policy. He left the club having won 41 of his 94 games in charge. During

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 opposin ...

, he worked as a

War Reserve Constable ''This should not be confused with a Special Constable, which was a voluntary British police officer, that existed alongside the War Reserve Constable.'' War reserve constable (or WRC, war reserve police constable, WRPC) was a voluntary role wit ...

for the

Blackpool Borough Police Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, between the Ribble and Wyre rivers, and is ...

and went on to become a civil servant with the

Ministry of Pensions Ministry may refer to: Government * Ministry (collective executive), the complete body of government ministers under the leadership of a prime minister * Ministry (government department), a department of a government Religion * Christian ...

. He joined

Southend United Southend United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of English football. Southend are known as ...

as a

scout Scout may refer to: Youth movement *Scout (Scouting), a child, usually 10–18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement **Scouts (The Scout Association), section for 10-14 year olds in the United Kingdom **Scouts BSA, sectio ...

in 1967.

Personal life

He died in October 1972 after a three-week battle against

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severity ...

, just before what would have been his 78th birthday. He was survived by his wife, Lillian (née Frankland), and daughter, Susanne Puddefoot (1934–2010), a journalist who edited the ''Times''

Women's Page The women's page (sometimes called home page or women's section) of a newspaper was a section devoted to covering news assumed to be of interest to women. Women's pages started out in the 19th century as society pages and eventually morphed into ...

in the 1960s.

Career statistics

Managerial statistics

Notes

References

External links

Sydney (Syd) Puddefoot
at Spartacus Educational
Sydney Puddefoot
at 11v11

* ttp://www.thecelticwiki.com/page/Puddefoot%2C+Sidney Puddefoot, Sidneyat TheCelticWiki.com (details of a charity match Puddefoot played against West Ham) {{DEFAULTSORT:Puddefoot, Syd 1894 births 1972 deaths Footballers from Bow, London English men's footballers England men's international footballers England men's wartime international footballers English cricketers Essex cricketers Men's association football forwards West Ham United F.C. players British Army personnel of World War I Falkirk F.C. wartime guest players Falkirk F.C. players Blackburn Rovers F.C. players Fenerbahçe S.K. (football) managers Galatasaray S.K. (football) managers Scottish Football League players English Football League players English Football League representative players English football managers English expatriate football managers Northampton Town F.C. managers Expatriate football managers in Turkey Southend United F.C. non-playing staff Deaths from pneumonia in England Association football coaches English expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Association football scouts