Ted Bennett (footballer)

Ted Bennett
Personal information
Full nameEdward Ernest Bennett
Date of birth22 August 1925
Place of birthKilburn, London, England
Playing positionGoalkeeper
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
Southall
1949–1950QPR2(0)
1950–1953Southall
1953–1956Watford81(0)
1956–?Gravesend & Northfleet
National team
England amateur11(0)
1952Great Britain
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

Edward Ernest "Ted" Bennett (born 22 August 1925) is an English former footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He competed for Great Britain at the 1952 Summer Olympics.[1][2]

Career

Born in Kilburn, Middlesex, Bennett started playing competitive football as an amateur for Southall, who competed in the Athenian League. He joined Football League side QPR in 1949,[3] and made two first team appearances.[4] In a league where most players were professional, Bennett remained an amateur. This enabled him to play eleven times for England at amateur level, and to keep goal for Great Britain at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki.[5] Great Britain were eliminated 5–3 in the preliminary round by Luxembourg after extra time, in a match that finished 1–1 after 90 minutes.[6]

After a brief return to Southall, Bennett signed on professional terms for Watford in December 1953. He replaced Dave Underwood, who had been sold to Liverpool for £5,000 earlier that month. At the time, this was the highest transfer fee Watford had ever received.[7] Bennett played 86 of Watford's next 87 games, before a finger injury ended his Football League career in 1955. He was sold to Gravesend and Northfleet of the Southern Football League in September 1956 for a nominal transfer fee.[3]

References

General
Specific
  1. "Edward BENNETT". FIFA. Retrieved 9 November 2009.
  2. "Edward Bennett". Sports Reference. Retrieved 9 November 2009.
  3. 3.0 3.1 Jones p. 39
  4. Neil Brown. "Queens Park Rangers: 1946/47 – 2008/09". Retrieved 2 March 2010.
  5. Jones p. 292
  6. "Olympic football tournament Helsinki 1952". FIFA. Retrieved 2 March 2010.
  7. Jones p. 230