Ditchburn ted

As a young man, Ted, the son of a professional boxer ^[1] , worked in a paper mill ^[1] and simultaneously played for Northfleet United ^[2] , after which in 1937 he became a player of Tottenham Hotspur , and two years later he signed with the club professional contract. During World War II, Ditchburn served in the RAF as an instructor in physical education ^[1] . He made his debut for the club in the Wartime League May 25, 1940, in the game against Chelsea . At the same time, until the end of the war, he advocated Aberdeen , after which he returned to Tottenham. He made his debut for the club on August 31, 1946 in the Football League with a game with Birmingham , which ended with a victory with a score of 2: 1 ^[3] . Between April 1948 and March 1954, he spent 247 matches for the club, in which he won the second division of the 1949/50 season, and a year later - the champion of England ^[4] .

The goalkeeper was one of the first to develop a “short throw” tactic that served as the starting point for the hit-and-run style popular in the early 1950s. Due to a finger injury in a match of March 1958 against Chelsea, Ted ended his professional career. In total, he spent 452 meetings for the club in all tournaments ^[5] . The next season, Ditchburn began as a playing coach for the Romford Amateur Club. In 1962, he gave up his position and became a player on the team, continuing to play for another three years, having spent a total of 147 matches ^[1] . Brentwood Town became the new club of the player, where later Ted ended his football career.

In 1944, Ditchburn held the first unofficial match as part of the England team , during which time Frank Swift and other players competed for the player for a place on the field. He made his debut for the national team in 1948, the match against Switzerland . A year later he played with the national team of Sweden . I got into the national team's bid for the World Cup in 1950 , but did not play a single match. In 1953 he participated in a tour of the United States, where his team with a score of 6: 3 beat the hosts of the tournament . In 1956 he again received a call to the national team, taking part in three meetings. In addition, the goalkeeper played for the second England team (against the Netherlands in May 1949 and Switzerland in January 1950) ^[6] .

After the end of his football career, Ditchburn founded a toy store, sports equipment. Later he was involved in one of the startups ^[7] . He loved to play cricket and tennis . He died on December 26, 2005 in Romford. ^[1]

"Tottenham"

• Champion of England : 1950/51
• The winner of the second division : 1949/50

• Player profile on spursodessey.com
• Article "The Guardian"
• Roy Brazier. Tottenham Hotspur: 100 Great. - ISBN 0-7524-3798-4 .
• Player profile in Tottenham Hall of Fame