Victor Martin Watson (10 November 1897 – 3 August 1988) was an English professional

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 most of his club football 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 ...

Playing career

Watson, a centre forward, played 505 times for West Ham between 1920 and 1936. The club paid just £50 for Vic from Wellingborough, bringing him in to provide cover for Syd Puddefoot. Watson is the club's record goalscorer with 326 goals: 298 in the League and 28 in the FA Cup. 203 of his league goals were from 295 top flight appearances. He once scored six, in an 8–2 home win against

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

on 9 February 1929, scored four goals on three occasions, and managed 13

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 while at West Ham. Watson gained two international

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

with

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 1923 and a further three caps in 1930, scoring four goals in total, including two against

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

in the

1930 British Home Championship Year 193 ( CXCIII) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Sosius and Ericius (or, less frequently, year 946 '' Ab urbe condi ...

. He spent one season (1935–36) with

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 ...

before retiring and he was the club's top scorer with 14 goals in 36 league appearances. Upon retiring, he became a market gardener in

Girton, Cambridgeshire Girton is a village and civil parish of about 1,600 households, and 4,500 people, in Cambridgeshire, England. It lies about to the northwest of Cambridge, and is the home of Girton College, Cambridge, Girton College, a Colleges of the Universit ...

. He died in August 1988 at the age of 90. In June 2010 a plaque honouring Watson was unveiled in Girton.

Honours

West Ham United * Division Two Runners Up: 1922–23 *

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 ...

finalist: 1923 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 ...

1930 Events January * January 15 – The Moon moves into its nearest point to Earth, called perigee, at the same time as its fullest phase of the Lunar Cycle. This is the closest moon distance at in recent history, and the next one will be ...

References

External links

Victor Watson profile at England football onlineProfile on Cambridge City website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Watson, Vic 1897 births 1988 deaths Military personnel from Cambridgeshire People from Girton, Cambridgeshire England men's international footballers English footballers Men's association football forwards English Football League players First Division/Premier League top scorers Wellingborough Town F.C. players West Ham United F.C. players Southampton F.C. players British Army personnel of World War I FA Cup final players British Army soldiers Footballers from Cambridgeshire