Sydney Charles Puddefoot (17 October 1894 in Bow

Bow, London

Bow is an area of London, England, United Kingdom in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is a built-up, mostly residential district located east of Charing Cross, and is a part of the East End.-Bridges at Bowe:...

, London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 – 2 October 1972 in Rochford

Rochford

Rochford is a small town in the Rochford district of Essex in the East of England. It is sited about 43 miles from Central London and approximately 21 miles from the Essex county town, Chelmsford...

, Essex

Essex

Essex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...

) was a football

Football (soccer)

Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...

er who played as a forward

Striker

Forwards, also known as strikers, are the players on a team in association football who play nearest to the opposing team's goal, and are therefore principally responsible for scoring goals...

 for West Ham United

West Ham United F.C.

West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Upton Park, Newham, East London. They play in The Football League Championship. The club was founded in 1895 as Thames Ironworks FC and reformed in 1900 as West Ham United. In 1904 the club relocated to their current...

. He was also a cricket

Cricket

Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...

er for Essex

Essex County Cricket Club

Essex County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh national cricket structure, representing the historic county of Essex. Its limited overs team is called the Essex Eagles, their team colours this season are blue.The club plays most of its home games...

 and later went into football management.

Puddefoot was a pupil at Park School in West Ham and played with Condor Athletic and Limehouse Town before being spotted by West Ham manager Syd King

Syd King

Ernest Sydney "Syd" King was a footballer and manager, and one of the most important figures in the early history of West Ham United.-Playing career:...

 in a London Juniors match against Surrey Juniors. He quickly developed into a formidable force and scored 28 goals in 55 Southern League

Southern Football League

The Southern League is an English football competition featuring semi-professional and amateur clubs from the South West, South Central and Midlands of England and South Wales...

 appearances for the club.

Syd made 126 appearances in the war-time London Combination and scored nearly 100 goals, including seven against Crystal Palace

Crystal Palace F.C.

Crystal Palace Football Club are an English Football league club based in South Norwood, London. The team plays its home matches at Selhurst Park, where they have been based since 1924. The club currently competes in the second tier of English Football, The Championship.Crystal Palace was formed in...

 in November 1918 (a record for the competition).

After the end of World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

, Puddefoot played in the newly enlarged Football League Division Two for the 1919-20

1919-20 in English football

The 1919–1920 season was the 45th season of competitive football in England, and the first following the end of World War I.-Honours:Notes = Number in parentheses is the times that club has won that honour. * indicates new record for competition...

 season. He scored 21 goals, and was selected to play in England's

England national football team

The England national football team represents England in association football and is controlled by the Football Association, the governing body for football in England. England is the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside Scotland, whom they played in the world's first...

 Victory International games against Scotland

Scotland national football team

The Scotland national football team represents Scotland in international football and is controlled by the Scottish Football Association. Scotland are the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside England, whom they played in the world's first international football match in 1872...

 and Wales

Wales national football team

The Wales national football team represents Wales in international football. It is controlled by the Football Association of Wales , the governing body for football in Wales, and the third oldest national football association in the world. The team have only qualified for a major international...

. He then scored 29 in the 1920-21

1920-21 in English football

The 1920–21 season was the 46th season of competitive football in England.-Overview:The Football League Third Division is introduced, expanding the League's operational radius south of Birmingham...

 season and 19 in 1921-22

1921-22 in English football

The 1921–22 season was the 47th season of competitive football in England.-Overview:The league underwent a major expansion for the second consecutive season, adding 20 teams from the Midlands and Northern England. They were placed in the new Third Division North, and the existing southern-based...

 before transferring to Falkirk

Falkirk F.C.

Falkirk Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in Falkirk. It is one of two professional football teams from the town, the other being East Stirlingshire...

 for £5,000 in February 1922, with an agreement to transfer younger brother Len

Len Puddefoot

Leonard Frederick Puddefoot was an English professional football player and manager.-Playing career:Puddefoot played one game in the Scottish Football League for Falkirk between 1921 and 1922.-References:...

 as part of the deal.

Puddefoot left Falkirk after three years to join Blackburn Rovers

Blackburn Rovers F.C.

Blackburn Rovers Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Blackburn, Lancashire. The team currently competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football....

. He gained a further three international caps

Cap (sport)

In sports, a cap is a metaphorical term for a player's appearance on a select team, such as a national team. The term dates from the practice in the United Kingdom of awarding a cap to every player in an international match of association football...

 in 1926, with a game against Scotland at Old Trafford

Old Trafford (football)

Old Trafford is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 75,811, Old Trafford is the second-largest football stadium in England after Wembley, the third-largest in the United Kingdom and the eleventh-largest in Europe...

 and two games against Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland national football team

The Northern Ireland national football team represents Northern Ireland in international association football. Before 1921 all of Ireland was represented by a single side, the Ireland national football team, organised by the Irish Football Association...

. He won the FA Cup

FA Cup

The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's...

 with Blackburn in 1928

1928 FA Cup Final

The 1928 FA Cup Final was contested by Blackburn Rovers and Huddersfield Town at Wembley Stadium. Blackburn won 3–1, with goals from Jack Roscamp and Tommy McLean...

. He scored the opening goal in the first minute of the match when he pushed the Huddersfield Town

Huddersfield Town F.C.

Huddersfield Town Football Club is an English football club formed in 1908 and based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire. They currently play in League One...

 goalkeeper

Goalkeeper (football)

In association football, the goalkeeper occupies a position that represents the last line of defence between the opponent's offence and his own team's goal. The primary role of the goalkeeper is to defend his team's goal and prevent the opposition from scoring a goal...

 Billy Mercer

Billy Mercer (goalkeeper)

William Henry "Billy" Mercer was a professional football goalkeeper who played for Hull City, Huddersfield Town and Blackpool. He was born in Prescot.-References:*99 Years & Counting - Stats & Stories - Huddersfield Town History...

 into the net with the ball in the keeper's hands.

Ten years after leaving his boyhood club, Syd returned to east London to help with the ultimately doomed effort to avoid relegation

Promotion and relegation

In many sports leagues around the world, promotion and relegation is a process that takes place at the end of each season. Through it, teams are transferred between divisions based on their performance that season...

 in the 1931-32

1931-32 in English football

The 1931–32 season was the 57th season of competitive football in England.-Honours:Notes = Number in parentheses is the times that club has won that honour...

 season. After two years at West Ham, he left to coach Turkish

Turkey

Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...

 club Fenerbahçe.

The following year, he moved to Galatasaray

Galatasaray S.K. (football team)

Galatasaray Anonim Şirketi is a Turkish football club, part of the Galatasaray S.K. multi-sport club of Istanbul. Galatasaray is a major sports club in Turkey, holding 17 Turkish Super League titles and the highest number of Turkish Cups....

, but left after an incident in which he was manhandled while trying to calm down players during a game. He moved back to England in March 1937 and coached Northampton Town

Northampton Town F.C.

Northampton Town Football Club are an English professional football club based in Northampton, Northamptonshire. They currently play in Football League Two, the lowest league division, after being relegated from League One on the last day of the 2008–09 season...

 until the outbreak of World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

.

He later worked as a scout

Scout (sport)

In professional sports, scouts are trained talent evaluators who travel extensively for the purposes of watching athletes play their chosen sports and determining whether their set of skills and talents represent what is needed by the scout's organization...

 for Southend United

Southend United F.C.

Southend United Football Club is an English football club based at Roots Hall Stadium, Prittlewell, Southend-on-Sea, Essex, who play in Football League Two. Their home ground is Roots Hall, and the club plan to move into a new 22,000-seater stadium located at Fossetts Farm.-Stadium:The club has had...

.

His daughter Susanne Puddefoot (1934-2010) was a journalist who edited the Times Women's Page in the 1960s.

He died in October 1972, just before what would have been his 78th birthday.