Les Bennett was a former English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 professional footballer who played for Tottenham Hotspur

Tottenham Hotspur F.C.

Tottenham Hotspur Football Club , commonly referred to as Spurs, is an English Premier League football club based in Tottenham, north London. The club's home stadium is White Hart Lane....

 and 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...

.

Football career

Bennett joined Tottenham as a junior in May 1939. He spent much of the 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...

 years serving his country in Burma, India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

 and Egypt

Egypt

Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...

, before making his Football League debut against Birmingham City

Birmingham City F.C.

Birmingham City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, they became Small Heath in 1888, then Birmingham in 1905, finally becoming Birmingham City in 1943.They were relegated at the end of the...

 on 31 August 1946. The quick- thinking, energetic inside forward

Inside forward

In football, the position of inside forward was popularly used in the late nineteenth and first half of the 20th centuries. The inside forwards would support the centre forwards, running and making space in the opposition defence, and, as the passing game developed, supporting him with passes...

 was an important part of the push and run

Push and run

Push-and-run, also known as a one-two, a wall pass or a give-and-go, is a tactic often used in association football. It was devised and developed by Arthur Rowe, who was the manager of English football club Tottenham Hotspur from 1949....

 side of the 1950s. He made 294 appearances and scored on 124 occasions in all competitions for the club between 1946–1954. Bennett transferred to West Ham in December 1954 playing another 26 matches and scoring three goals. In August 1956 he became player–coach for Clacton

Clacton Town F.C.

F.C. Clacton is an English football club based in Clacton-on-Sea, Essex. The club are currently members of the Eastern Counties League Premier Division and play at the Rush Green Bowl.-History:...

 before finishing his football career at Romford Town

Romford F.C.

Romford F.C. is an English football club based in Romford, Greater London. The club are currently members of Division One North of the Isthmian League, and play at Mill Field in Aveley.-History:...

 in 1959-60.

Honours

Tottenham Hotspur F.C.

• Football League Second Division
  Football League Second Division
  From 1892 until 1992, the Football League Second Division was the second highest division overall in English football.This ended with the creation of the FA Premier League, prior to the start of the 1992–93 season, which caused an administrative split between The Football League and the teams...
  
   Winners: 1949–50
  1949-50 in English football
  The 1949–50 season was the 70th season of competitive football in England.-Overview:Portsmouth retained the First Division title by one of the narrowest margins in history ahead of Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C....
  
  
• Football League First Division
  Football League First Division
  The First Division was a division of The Football League between 1888 and 2004 and the highest division in English football until the creation of the Premier League in 1992. The secondary tier in English football has since become known as the Championship....
  
   Winners: 1950–51
  1950-51 in English football
  The 1950–51 season was the 71st season of competitive football in England.-Overview:Tottenham Hotspur won their first League Championship, while Newcastle United defeated Blackpool 2–0 to win their fourth F.A. Cup. They would win it twice more over the next four seasons. The league was expanded...
  
  
• Football League First Division Runners- up: 1951–52
  1951-52 in English football
  The 1951–52 season was the 72nd season of competitive football in England.-Honours:Notes = Number in parentheses is the times that club has won that honour...
  
  

Post-football career

Bennett managed a caravan site in Clacton and was employed as a security guard at the University of Essex

University of Essex

The University of Essex is a British campus university whose original and largest campus is near the town of Colchester, England. Established in 1963 and receiving its Royal Charter in 1965...

 before retiring. He came out of retirement in 1964 to play in a " Push and Run" XI for the John White memorial fund.

External links

• Tottenham Hotspur A-Z of players
• Fact file
• Guardian newspaper obituary Retrieved 13 May 2009