Henry Bedford (15 October 1899 – 24 June 1976) 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 as a forward. He scored 308 league goals in 485 games.

Club career

Harry Bedford began his playing career playing with hometown club Bonds Main FC and then joined his older brother Walter, at Grassmoor Ivanhoe FC in the Chesterfield League. It was here both brothers were invited for trials with

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...

FC in 1916. During the war years Harry made two appearances for Forest and also played in a match for

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 ...

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 ...

Forest signed Harry as a professional after the war in August 1919. He made 5 appearances and scored 3 goals in his first season and after scoring 5 in 13 matches of the 1920-21 season, he left for Blackpool on the 8 March 1921, for a fee of £1,200. He made his debut for the Tangerines in a 1–0 league defeat at South Shields on 12 March 1921 and scored his first goal for the club in the return match at

Bloomfield Road Bloomfield Road is a single-tier football stadium in Blackpool, Lancashire, England, which has been the home of Blackpool F.C. since 1901. It is the third stadium in the club's existence, the previous two being Raikes Hall Gardens and the At ...

seven days later. In 1921–22, his first full season, he managed 11 goals and scored in their one FA Cup match. The following two years saw him finish the season as not only Blackpool’s top scorer but also the football leagues. In the 1922–23 season he played in all 42 league games and scored 32 goals, then one better in 1923–24, the country's top scorer with 33 goals, a feat which only

Jimmy Hampson James Hampson (23 March 1906 – 10 January 1938) was an English professional footballer. He spent eleven seasons at Blackpool, where he remains record goalscorer with 252 goals in 373 games, and is still regarded as one of the best centre forw ...

equalled. In 1924–25, Bedford's goals helped Blackpool reach the fourth round of the

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 ...

for the first time and he scored 24 goals in 40 league games. Bedford started the 1925–26 season scoring 6 goals in 7 matches, before he was transferred to

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group. Founded in 188 ...

for £3,900 on 25 September 1925. Title chasing Derby required a centre forward after Stan Fazackerley was abruptly forced to retire through injury. Bedford had scored 112 goals in 169 league games and scored 6 goals in 11

appearances. His Rams debut was at the

City Ground The City Ground is a football stadium in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England, on the banks of the River Trent. It has been home to Nottingham Forest Football Club since 1898 and has a capacity of 30,445. The stadium was a venue when En ...

helping his new side beat his old side 2-1. His home debut came against Swansea, scoring a hat-trick in a 5-0 victory. He hit two more hat-tricks against Stoke City and

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot ...

as he finished top scorer with 27 goals for the Rams, who won promotion finishing as runners up to Sheffield Wednesday. His form continued in the first division, ending the next four seasons as the club's top scorer. He made 203 league appearances and scored 142 goals and in his 15 FA Cup matches he scored 10 goals. In December 1930, with the prolific Jack Bowers the preferred centre forward, he was transferred to Newcastle United, the 31-year-old costing £4,000 to replace the outgoing

Hughie Gallacher Hugh Kilpatrick Gallacher (2 February 1903 – 11 June 1957) was a Scottish football player in the 1920s and 1930s. In 624 senior games, Gallacher scored 463 goals, playing senior league football for Airdrieonians, Newcastle United, Chelsea, D ...

on Tyneside. In February he scored for the Magpies in their 5-1 win at the Baseball Ground. He ended the season with 12 goals in 23 league games. He had scored 5 goals in 7 matches the next season before leaving for rivals Sunderland in January 1932, making 7 appearances, scoring twice. He was back in the

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 ...

for the start of the 1932-33 season, after signing for Bradford Park Avenue where he scored 15 goals in 33 matches. The following season he was playing in the

Third Division North The Third Division North 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 South with clubs elected to the League or relegated from a higher division allocated to ...

, with Chesterfield. He then became player-manager of

non-League Non-League football describes football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is specifically used to d ...

Heanor Town. He died in Derby on 24 June 1976.

International career

Bedford was capped twice 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 ...

. He made his debut in a friendly match against Sweden on 21 May 1923, included in England's end of season tour of Scandinavia. England won 4–2. His only other England cap came in a British Home Championship match against

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

on 22 October 1924, at

Goodison Park Goodison Park is a association football, football stadium in the Walton, Liverpool, Walton area of Liverpool, England. It has been the home stadium of Premier League club Everton F.C. since its completion in 1892. Located in a residential area ...

, Liverpool. He scored England's second goal in a 3–1 victory.

Managerial career

In October 1937 he joined the backroom staff at Newcastle United as a masseur and later took the same position at

. He moved into management in 1954 with Belper Town before making a return to Heanor Town, a position he held until he resigned in 1955.

Blackpool F.C. Hall of Fame

Bedford was inducted into the Hall of Fame at Bloomfield Road, when it was officially opened by former Blackpool player

Jimmy Armfield James Christopher Armfield, (21 September 1935 – 22 January 2018) was an English professional football player and manager who latterly worked as a football pundit for BBC Radio Five Live. He played the whole of his Football League career at B ...

in April 2006. Organised by the Blackpool Supporters Association, Blackpool fans around the world voted on their all-time heroes. Five players from each decade are inducted; Bedford is in the pre-1950s.

Career statistics

Club statistics

International statistics

International goals

:''Scores and results list England's goal tally first. Score after each Bedford goal is shown in bold with asterisk.''

References

External links

Profile on Bedford at Blackpool F.C.'s official websiteEngland profile at the FA.comProfile at EnglandFC.comBedford in the Blackpool Supporters Association Hall of Fame
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bedford, Harry 1899 births 1976 deaths Sportspeople from Chesterfield, Derbyshire English footballers England international footballers Nottingham Forest F.C. players Blackpool F.C. players Derby County F.C. players Newcastle United F.C. players Sunderland A.F.C. players Bradford (Park Avenue) A.F.C. players Chesterfield F.C. players English football managers Heanor Town F.C. managers English Football League players English Football League representative players Association football forwards People from Calow