Ted Ditchburn
Encyclopedia
Edwin George 'Ted' Ditchburn (24 October 1921 – 26 December 2005) was an English
professional football
goalkeeper
who played for Northfleet United
, Tottenham Hotspur
, Romford
, Brentwood Town
and represented England
on six occasions at international level.
, Ditchburn, a son of a professional boxer
joined the ground staff of Tottenham Hotspur in 1937. He signed professional forms for the White Hart Lane
club in 1939 after a spell with the club's 'nursery' team Northfleet United. During World War ll Ditchburn served with the RAF as a physical education instructor
. He made his senior debut for the Spurs in a wartime league match
against Chelsea
on 25 May 1940. At this time he represented both the RAF and the Combined Services and guested at Aberdeen
. At the end of the war the brave, muscular keeper returned to Tottenham and made his Football League debut in a 2-1 reverse against Birmingham City
on 31 August 1946. He went on to play in a unbroken run of 247 matches between April 1948 and March 1954. An ever present member of the side that won promotion as Division Two champions
in 1949-50
and the First division league title the following year, he developed the ‘short throw’ that provided the starting block for Tottenham's famous push and run
style of the early 1950s.
A broken finger against Chelsea ended his career with Spurs in August 1958 after making 452 appearances in all competitions for the Lilywhites. In the following year he became player/manager of non-league
Romford
. Ditchburn gave up his manager role in 1962, but kept playing for the club till 1965 and featured in 147 matches for the Essex
based club. He went on to join Brentwood Town where he ended his senior career.
and other consistent keepers dominated between the posts. His first match was against Switzerland in 1948 and in the following year versus Sweden. Ditchburn was a member of the 1950 World Cup squad
but did not play. In 1953 he was selected for a tour of America as the reserve keeper and played in the 6-3 victory over the home side. Following outstanding form with Tottenham Hotspur at the age of 35 he was recalled to the national team and played in a further three internationals in 1956. In addition, Ditchburn gained two caps in B internationals against Holland in May 1949 and in January 1950 versus Switzerland. He was a regular member of the Football League XI and the Football Combination XI
.
and died on 26 December 2005.
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 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...
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...
who played for Northfleet United
Northfleet United F.C.
Northfleet United Football Club was a football club based in Northfleet, Kent.Founded in 1890, Northfleet United joined the Kent League in 1906-07 and were runners-up in their inaugural season. They followed that with three championship titles in 1907-08, 1908-09 and 1919-20...
, 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....
, Romford
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:...
, Brentwood Town
Brentwood Town F.C.
Brentwood Town F.C. are an English football club based in Brentwood, Essex. The club is currently a member of the Isthmian League Division One North.-History:...
and represented England
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...
on six occasions at international level.
Playing career
After working in a paper millPaper mill
A paper mill is a factory devoted to making paper from vegetable fibres such as wood pulp, old rags and other ingredients using a Fourdrinier machine or other type of paper machine.- History :...
, Ditchburn, a son of a professional boxer
Boxing
Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...
joined the ground staff of Tottenham Hotspur in 1937. He signed professional forms for the White Hart Lane
White Hart Lane
White Hart Lane is an all-seater football stadium in Tottenham, London, England. Built in 1899, it is the home of Tottenham Hotspur and, after numerous renovations, the stadium has a capacity of 36,230....
club in 1939 after a spell with the club's 'nursery' team Northfleet United. During World War ll Ditchburn served with the RAF as a physical education instructor
Physical education
Physical education or gymnastics is a course taken during primary and secondary education that encourages psychomotor learning in a play or movement exploration setting....
. He made his senior debut for the Spurs in a wartime league match
Wartime League
The Wartime League was a football league competition held in England during World War II, which replaced the suspended Football League. The exclusion of the FA Cup in these years saw the creation of the Football League War Cup.-History:...
against Chelsea
Chelsea F.C.
Chelsea Football Club are an English football club based in West London. Founded in 1905, they play in the Premier League and have spent most of their history in the top tier of English football. Chelsea have been English champions four times, FA Cup winners six times and League Cup winners four...
on 25 May 1940. At this time he represented both the RAF and the Combined Services and guested at Aberdeen
Aberdeen F.C.
Aberdeen Football Club are a Scottish professional football club based in Aberdeen...
. At the end of the war the brave, muscular keeper returned to Tottenham and made his Football League debut in a 2-1 reverse 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. He went on to play in a unbroken run of 247 matches between April 1948 and March 1954. An ever present member of the side that won promotion as Division Two champions
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...
in 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....
and the First division league title the following year, he developed the ‘short throw’ that provided the starting block for Tottenham's famous 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....
style of the early 1950s.
A broken finger against Chelsea ended his career with Spurs in August 1958 after making 452 appearances in all competitions for the Lilywhites. In the following year he became player/manager of non-league
Non-league football
Non-League football is football in England played at a level below that of the Premier League and The Football League. The term non-League was commonly used well before 1992 when the top football clubs in England all belonged to The Football League; all clubs who were not a part of The Football...
Romford
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:...
. Ditchburn gave up his manager role in 1962, but kept playing for the club till 1965 and featured in 147 matches for the 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...
based club. He went on to join Brentwood Town where he ended his senior career.
Honours
Tottenham HotspurTottenham 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....
- Second Division TitleFootball League Second DivisionFrom 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...
winner: 1949–501949-50 in English footballThe 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.... - First Division TitleFootball League First DivisionThe 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....
winner: 1950–511950-51 in English footballThe 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...
International and representative career
Ditchburn played his first international in a unofficial war time match in 1944. He earned six caps between 1948–1956, a time when the popular Frank SwiftFrank Swift
Frank Victor Swift was an English footballer, who played as a goalkeeper for Manchester City and England. After starting his career with local clubs near his home town of Blackpool, in 1932 he was signed by First Division Manchester City, with whom he played his entire professional career.Swift...
and other consistent keepers dominated between the posts. His first match was against Switzerland in 1948 and in the following year versus Sweden. Ditchburn was a member of the 1950 World Cup squad
1950 FIFA World Cup
The 1950 FIFA World Cup, held in Brazil from 24 June to 16 July, was the fourth FIFA World Cup. It was the first World Cup since 1938, the planned 1942 and 1946 competitions having been canceled owing to World War II...
but did not play. In 1953 he was selected for a tour of America as the reserve keeper and played in the 6-3 victory over the home side. Following outstanding form with Tottenham Hotspur at the age of 35 he was recalled to the national team and played in a further three internationals in 1956. In addition, Ditchburn gained two caps in B internationals against Holland in May 1949 and in January 1950 versus Switzerland. He was a regular member of the Football League XI and the Football Combination XI
Football Combination
The Football Combination , is a football competition for the reserve teams of English Football League clubs from Southern England and Wales...
.
| Date | Venue | Opponent | Result | Goals | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 December 1948 | Highbury Stadium, 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... |
6-0 | 0 | Friendly | |
| 13 May 1949 | Råsunda Stadium Råsunda Stadium Råsunda Fotbollstadion, also Råsundastadion, Råsunda Stadium or just Råsunda, is a Swedish national football stadium. It is located in Solna Municipality in Metropolitan Stockholm and named after Råsunda, a zone of Solna.-History:... , Stockholm Stockholm Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area... |
1–3 | 0 | Friendly | |
| 8 June 1953 | Polo Grounds Polo Grounds The Polo Grounds was the name given to four different stadiums in Upper Manhattan, New York City, used by many professional teams in both baseball and American football from 1880 until 1963... , New York New York New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east... |
6–3 | 0 | Friendly | |
| 14 November 1956 | Wembley Stadium, London | 3–1 | 0 | British Home Championship 1957 British Home Championship The 1957 British Home Championship was the final full championship before the Munich air disaster would kill senior members of all four squads mid-way through the following tournament. A close-fought competition between England and Scotland, the tournament also featured some very good performances... |
|
| 28 November 1956 | Wembley Stadium, London | 3–0 | 0 | Friendly | |
| 5 December 1956 | Molineux Stadium Molineux stadium Molineux Stadium is a Premier League football stadium situated in Whitmore Reans, Wolverhampton, England. It has been the home ground of Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club since 1889, and has a long and illustrious history as the first 'new build' stadium in Football League history, one of the... , Wolverhampton Wolverhampton Wolverhampton is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands, England. For Eurostat purposes Walsall and Wolverhampton is a NUTS 3 region and is one of five boroughs or unitary districts that comprise the "West Midlands" NUTS 2 region... |
5–2 | 0 | 1958 World Cup qualifier | |
Post–football career
After his football career ended he established a sports outfitters and was involved in a office equipment venture. A keen cricketer and tennis player. He retired and settled in Wickham MarketWickham Market
Wickham Market is a large village situated in the River Deben valley of Suffolk, England, within the Suffolk Coastal heritage area.It is on the A12 trunk road thirteen miles north-east of the county town of Ipswich, five miles north-east of Woodbridge. Its railway station is located approximately...
and died on 26 December 2005.
External links
- Spurs Odyssey about Ted Ditchburn
- Gurdian obituary
- Tottenham Hotspur: 100 Great by Roy Brazier ISBN 0-7524-3798-4
- Tottenham Hotspur hall of fame
- Fact file