Edward Joseph Drake (16 August 1912 – 30 May 1995) was an English

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 ...

player and manager. As a player, he first played for

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

but made his name playing 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 ...

in the 1930s, winning two league titles and 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 ...

, as well as five caps 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 ...

. Drake is Arsenal's joint fifth highest goalscorer of all time. He also holds the record for the most goals scored in a top flight game in English football, with seven against Aston Villa in December 1935. A former

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 ...

, Drake has been described as a "classic number 9" and as a "strong, powerful, brave and almost entirely unthinking" player who "typified the English view." After retiring from playing football, Drake became a manager, most notably of Chelsea. In 1955, he led the club to their first league title. This made him the first person to win the English top-flight as both a player and a manager. 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, but only ever played sparingly for

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

Club career

Southampton

Born in Southampton, Drake started playing at

Winchester City Winchester City Football Club are an English football team based in Winchester, Hampshire and playing in the Southern Football League Division One South. Craig Davis is the current manager. The club motto is "Many in Men, One in Spirit". Histo ...

, whilst continuing to work as a gas-meter reader. He nearly joined Spurs as a schoolboy, but missed the trial match with an injury. In June 1931, he was persuaded by George Kay to join

, then playing in Division Two. He made his Saints debut on 14 November 1931 at Swansea Town, and signed as a professional in November, becoming first-choice centre-forward by the end of the 1931–32 season. In the following season he made 33 league appearances, scoring 20 goals. After only one full season, his bravery and skill attracted the attention of Arsenal's Herbert Chapman, who tried to persuade Drake to move to north London. Drake rejected the chance of a move to Highbury and decided to remain at The Dell. He started the 1933–34 season by scoring a hat-trick in the opening game against

Bradford City Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system and are currently managed by Mark Hughes. Th ...

, following this with at least one goal in the next four games, thereby amassing eight goals in the opening five games. By early March he had blasted his way to the top of the

Football League Division Two The Football League Second Division was the second level division in the English football league system between 1892 and 1992. Following the foundation of the FA Premier League, the Football League divisions were renumbered and the third ti ...

goal-scoring table with 22 goals. Arsenal, with

George Allison George Frederick Allison (24 October 1883 – 13 March 1957) was an English football journalist, broadcaster and manager. He was the BBC's first sports commentator and Arsenal's second longest serving manager. Journalism career Allison was ...

now in charge, renewed their interest and Drake eventually decided to join the Gunners. Saints had declined several previous offers, but eventually were forced to sell to balance their books. Drake made a total of 74 appearances for Southampton, scoring 48 goals.

Arsenal

Drake moved to Arsenal in March 1934 for £6,500, and scored on his league debut against

Wolves The wolf (''Canis lupus''; plural, : wolves), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large Canis, canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of Canis lupus, subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been reco ...

on 24 March 1934, in a 3–2 win. Although he joined too late to qualify for a League Championship medal in 1933–34, Drake would win one in 1934–35, scoring 42 goals in 41 league games in the process – this included three

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 ...

s and four four-goal hauls. With two more goals in the

and Charity Shield, Drake scored 44 in all that season, breaking Jack Lambert's club record, one that still holds to this day. The following season, 1935–36 Drake scored seven in a single match against

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park ...

Villa Park Villa Park is a football stadium in Aston, Birmingham, England, with a seating capacity of 42,682. It has been the home of Premier League side Aston Villa since 1897. The ground is less than a mile from both Witton and Aston railway stations ...

on 14 December 1935, a club record and top flight record that also still stands. Drake claimed an eighth goal hit the crossbar and went over the line, but the

referee A referee is an official, in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The official tasked with this job may be known by a variety of other titl ...

waved away his appeal. Drake would go on to win the

in 1935–36 with him scoring the only goal in the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

and the League title again in 1937–38 with Arsenal. Despite being injured regularly (he was a doubt up until the last minute for the 1936 Cup Final), Drake's speed, fierce shooting and brave playing style meant he was Arsenal's first-choice centre forward for the rest of the decade, and he was the club's top scorer for each of the five seasons from 1934–35 to 1938–39. The

Second World War 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 ...

curtailed Drake's career, although he served in the

Royal Air Force 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 ...

as well as turning out for Arsenal in wartime games and also appearing as a guest player for West Ham United later in World War II. However, Drake's career would not last long into peacetime; a spinal injury incurred in a game against

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...

in 1945 forced him to retire from playing. With 139 goals in 184 games, he is along with

Jimmy Brain James Brain (11 September 1900 – 1971) was an English footballer. Born in Bristol, Brain started his career playing in Wales, having an unsuccessful trial at Cardiff City, before gaining a regular place at Ton Pentre. In 1923, he moved to Ar ...

the joint-fifth all-time scorer for Arsenal. Drake is as well one of 32 Arsenal legends who are emblazoned in a

mural A mural is any piece of graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage. Word mural in art The word ''mural'' is a Spani ...

upon the walls of the club's

Emirates Stadium The Emirates Stadium (known as Arsenal Stadium for UEFA competitions) is a football stadium in Holloway, London, England. It has been the home stadium of Arsenal Football Club since its completion in 2006. It has a current seated capacity ...

International career

Drake's exploits at club level brought him recognition at international level, and he made his

debut against

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

in the "

Battle of Highbury The Battle of Highbury was a football match between England and Italy that took place on 14 November 1934 at Arsenal Stadium, Highbury, London. England won 3–2 in a hotly contested and frequently violent match. Background This was Italy's firs ...

" on 14 November 1934. As one of seven Arsenal players in the side, he scored the third goal in a heated 3–2 win. With England Drake also went on to win the

1935 British Home Championship Events January * January 7 – Italian premier Benito Mussolini and French Foreign Minister Pierre Laval conclude Franco-Italian Agreement of 1935, an agreement, in which each power agrees not to oppose the other's colonial claims. * ...

title. In total he won five caps, scoring six times for the Three Lions.

Cricket career

Drake made his debut for

in 1931 and shared a vital stand of 86 with

Phil Mead Charles Phillip Mead (9 March 1887 – 26 March 1958) was an English first-class cricketer. He played as a left-handed batsman for Hampshire and England between 1905 and 1936. He was born at 10 Ashton Buildings (since pulled down), second elde ...

against

Glamorgan , HQ = Cardiff , Government = Glamorgan County Council (1889–1974) , Origin= , Code = GLA , CodeName = Chapman code , Replace = * West Glamorgan * Mid Glamorgan * South Glamorgan , Motto ...

. He made 45 but never reached this score again in the 15 further matches he played over the next six years, first as an amateur and then as a professional.

Managerial career

Hendon and Reading

After retiring as a player, Drake managed

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 ...

in 1946, and then

from 1947. He led the club to the runners-up spot in

Division Three 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 o ...

in 1948–49 and again in 1951–52, though at the time only the champions were promoted.

Chelsea

Without much ado he was appointed manager of First Division Chelsea in June 1952. This is so due to the rivalry between the Gunners and the Blues being non existent at the time. Upon Drake's arrival at Chelsea, he made a series of sweeping changes, doing much to rid the club of its previous amateurish, music hall image. He discarded the club's Chelsea pensioner crest and with it the Pensioners nickname, and insisted a new one be adopted. From these changes came the Lion Rampant Regardant crest and the Blues nickname. He introduced scouting reports and a new, tougher, training regime based on ballwork, a rare practice in English football at the time. The club's previous policy of signing unreliable big-name players was abandoned; Drake instead used his knowledge of the lower divisions and the amateur game to recruit little-known, but more reliable players. These included John McNichol,

Frank Blunstone Frank Blunstone (born 17 October 1934) is an English former footballer who played as an outside left for Crewe Alexandra, Chelsea and the England national team. Playing career After surprisingly rejecting Wolverhampton Wanderers in favour of h ...

Derek Saunders Derek Saunders (6 January 1928 – 3 March 2018) was an English footballer who played for Chelsea during the 1950s. Biography Born in Ware, for whose Spartan League side he made 31 appearances in 1945–46 as its youngest ever captain, Saunders ...

, Jim Lewis and

Peter Sillett Richard Peter Tudor Sillett (1 February 1933 – 13 March 1998) was an English footballer. He played for Chelsea and Southampton as a right-back, and made three appearances for England. He was the older brother of John Sillett, who managed Cove ...

Within three years, in the 1954–55 season, Drake had led Chelsea to their first league championship triumph. In doing so, he became the first person to win the league title both as player and manager. However, Drake never came close to repeating the success. The championship-winning side was gradually broken up, to be replaced by the crop of youngsters emerging from the club's youth team, such as Jimmy Greaves,

Peter Brabrook Peter Brabrook (8 November 1937 – 10 December 2016) was an English footballer who made nearly 500 appearances in the Football League playing for Chelsea, West Ham United and Orient, and was capped three times for the England national team. ...

and

Bobby Tambling Robert Victor Tambling (born 18 September 1941) is an English former professional footballer, who played as a forward, most notably for Chelsea, Crystal Palace and England. He was Chelsea's all-time top scorer for 47 years, with 202 goals in al ...

, for whom Drake was an aloof figure. Thereafter performances and results were very erratic, leaving the club stranded in mid-table; an

loss to

Fourth Division Fourth or the fourth may refer to: * the ordinal form of the number 4 * ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971 * Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision * Fourth (music), a musical interval * ''The Fourth'' (1972 film), a Sovie ...

side Crewe Alexandra weakened his position at the club and a few months later, Drake was sacked early into the 1961–62 season. After leaving Chelsea, he became reserve team manager at

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 ...

, where he was also assistant to the manager Vic Buckingham. In December he joined

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

as assistant to Buckingham, staying until June 1970. He later returned to Fulham where he became a chief scout, director and life president of the Cottagers. Drake died at the age of 82 on 30 May 1995.

Honours

Player

Arsenal *

Football League First Division The Football League First Division was a division of the Football League in England from 1888 until 2004. It was the top division in the English football league system from the season 1888–89 until 1991–92, a century in which the First ...

: 1934–35, 1937–38 *

: 1935–36 *

FA Charity Shield The Football Association Community Shield (formerly the Charity Shield) is English football's annual match contested at Wembley Stadium between the champions of the previous Premier League season and the holders of the FA Cup. If the Premier Le ...

1934 Events January–February * January 1 – The International Telecommunication Union, a specialist agency of the League of Nations, is established. * January 15 – The 8.0 1934 Nepal–Bihar earthquake, Nepal–Bihar earthquake strik ...

1938 Events January * January 1 ** The Constitution of Estonia#Third Constitution (de facto 1938–1940, de jure 1938–1992), new constitution of Estonia enters into force, which many consider to be the ending of the Era of Silence and the a ...

England *

British Home Championship The British Home Championship * sco, Hame Internaitional Kemp * gd, Farpais lìg eadar-nàiseanta * cy, Pencampwriaeth y Pedair Gwlad, name=lang (historically known as the British International Championship or simply the International Champio ...

1935 Events January * January 7 – Italian premier Benito Mussolini and French Foreign Minister Pierre Laval conclude Franco-Italian Agreement of 1935, an agreement, in which each power agrees not to oppose the other's colonial claims. * ...

Manager

Chelsea *

: 1954–55 *

1955 Events January * January 3 – José Ramón Guizado becomes president of Panama. * January 17 – , the first nuclear-powered submarine, puts to sea for the first time, from Groton, Connecticut. * January 18– 20 – Battle of Yijian ...

Individual

* First Division Golden Boot:

References

External links

* * * * *
Wisden obituaryFA Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Drake, Ted 1912 births Footballers from Southampton 1995 deaths Hampshire cricketers English footballers England international footballers English Football League players First Division/Premier League top scorers Winchester City F.C. players Southampton F.C. players Arsenal F.C. players English football managers Reading F.C. managers Chelsea F.C. managers English cricketers West Ham United F.C. wartime guest players Association football forwards Cricketers from Southampton FA Cup Final players Royal Air Force personnel of World War II