Ted Purdon

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Ted Purdon
Personal information
Full name Edward John Purdon
Date of birth March 1, 1930
Place of birth    Johannesburg, South Africa
Date of death    April 29, 2007 (aged 77)
Place of death    Toronto, Canada
Height 6 ft (1.83 m)
Playing position Inside- or centre-forward
Senior clubs1
Years Club App (Gls)*
1950–1954
1954–1957
1957–1958
1958–1959
1959–1960
1960–1961


1965		 Birmingham City
Sunderland
Workington
Barrow
Bath City
Bristol Rovers
Toronto City
Polish White Eagles (Toronto)
Toronto Roma
New York Ukrainians		 64 0(27)
90 0(39)
33 00(9)
37 0(11)

04 00(0)



   

1 Senior club appearances and goals
counted for the domestic league only.
* Appearances (Goals)

Edward John "Ted" Purdon (March 1, 1930 – April 29, 2007) was a South African professional footballer who played as a forward. He played for Birmingham City in the Second Division of the Football League and for Sunderland in the First Division.

Contents

[edit] Biography

Purdon was born in Johannesburg, South Africa. He came to England on tour with his South African club in 1950 at the age of 20, was watched by representatives of several clubs, and signed for Birmingham City. During his three seasons at the club he scored 30 goals in 70 games in all competitions and was the club's top scorer in 1953–54, despite playing only 23 games before his mid-season transfer to Sunderland.[1] He was also a good cricketer, and was named once as twelfth man for Warwickshire.[2] He moved to Sunderland, then known as the "Bank of England" club because of their high transfer spending,[3] for a fee of £15,000.

Purdon made a spectacular start to his Sunderland career, scoring twice on debut against Cardiff City and following that up with a hat-trick against Arsenal at Highbury in his second game.[4] The first goal of the three, scored after only ten seconds, is believed to be the fastest goal in Sunderland's history.[5] Playing alongside the likes of Len Shackleton and Billy Bingham, he scored 42 goals in 96 games for the club over his three-year career. Purdon was a big man whose "physique allied to a total lack of fear made him a handful for any centre-half";[2] West Bromwich Albion goalkeeper Norman Heath was in collision with him during a game and received spinal injuries so severe that he never played again.[6]

He and his team-mates were punished by the Football Association for receiving illegal payments from the club.[7] By the time this matter was investigated, Purdon had left Sunderland for Workington in the Third Division North. He played his part in the Cumbrian club coming close to knocking Manchester United's Busby Babes out of the 1958 FA Cup. Workington took an early lead and Purdon came close to adding a second before Dennis Viollet's second-half hat-trick settled the matter.[8]

In March 1958 he moved to nearby Barrow, also in the Third Division North, where he also spent a year. He was part of the Barrow team which conceded ten goals in a league match at Hartlepools United.[9] In August 1959 he dropped into non-league football, helping Bath City to the Southern League championship. This success prompted a move back into the Second Division at Bristol Rovers, but he only made four first-team appearances for the club. He emigrated to Canada in 1961, where he played for Toronto City and other Canadian clubs, and also helped New York Ukrainians to win the 1965 U.S. Open Cup.[10] He later coached in Canada.

Purdon was a founder member and honorary president of Sunderland's North American supporters' club.[11] In company with fellow supporters he had just watched on television Sunderland beating Burnley in the game which almost clinched the club's 2007 promotion to the Premier League when he suffered a stroke. He died in a Toronto hospital two days later at the age of 77.[12]

[edit] Honours

  • with Birmingham City
    • Club's top scorer 1954.
  • with Bath City
  • with New York Ukrainians

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Matthews, Tony (1995). Birmingham City: A Complete Record. Derby: Breedon Books, p. 189. ISBN 1-85983-010-2. 
  2. ^ a b Matthews, p. 118.
  3. ^ 1950-1959. Sunderland A.F.C. Club history. Retrieved on 2007-09-06.
  4. ^ Ted Purdon. StatCat: Sunderland AFC - The definitive, up-to-date, playing history. Retrieved on 2007-09-06.
  5. ^ Former SAFC striker dies. Sunderland A.F.C. (2007-05-01). Retrieved on 2007-09-06.
  6. ^ "A performance to forget", Northern Echo, 2003-09-16. Retrieved on 2007-09-06. 
  7. ^ "Three-Year Ban On Footballer – T. Ford "Handed £250 In Notes"" (Accessed via Times Digital Archive (subscription required)), The Times, 1957-07-11, p. 3. Retrieved on 2007-09-06. "T. Ford, the former Sunderland footballer and Welsh international centre-forward, who has joined a Dutch club, has been banned as a professional by the Football Association for the next three seasons. Eight other players, who were said to have received illegal payments from Sunderland, are to lose six months' qualification for benefit or accrued share of benefit. … The other eight players named in the commission's findings are G. Aitken, S. Anderson, W. Bingham, W. Holden, S. Kemp, J. McDonald, E. Purdon and L. Shackleton, the England inside forward." 
  8. ^ "Workington Falter In Second Half – Worried Champions" (Accessed via Times Digital Archive (subscription required)), The Times, 1958-01-06, p. 12. Retrieved on 2007-09-06. "And when Jones slipped to allow Purdon's clear passage up the middle, only a finger-tip deflection by the diving goalkeeper prevented a second goal. There was little rest for the visitors' defence." 
  9. ^ "Pools of wisdom from Hails", Northern Echo, 2004-11-08. Retrieved on 2007-09-06. 
  10. ^ Stephen Byrne (2007-07-19). Obituary: Ted Purdon. Bristol Rovers F.C. Fans Forum. Retrieved on 2007-09-06.
  11. ^ Another great day at Scallywags. Black Cats of North America (2005-04-22). Retrieved on 2007-09-06.
  12. ^ "Former club striker dies", Sunderland Echo, 2007-05-01. Retrieved on 2007-09-06. 

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Profile at Neil Brown's statistics site.

Persondata
NAME Purdon, Edward John
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Purdon, Ted
SHORT DESCRIPTION Professional footballer
DATE OF BIRTH 1930-03-01
PLACE OF BIRTH Johannesburg, South Africa
DATE OF DEATH 2007-04-29
PLACE OF DEATH Toronto, Canada