Ted Fenton

Edward Benjamin Ambrose Fenton (7 November 1914 – 12 July 1992) was an English football player and manager. A wing-half, he spent almost his entire playing career at West Ham United and went on to manage the club between 1950 and 1961.

Ted Fenton
Personal information
Full name Edward Benjamin Ambrose Fenton[1]
Date of birth (1914-11-07)7 November 1914
Place of birth Forest Gate, Essex, England
Date of death 12 July 1992(1992-07-12) (aged 77)
Place of death England
Position(s) Wing-half
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1932–1946 West Ham United 166 (18)
1946–1948 Colchester United
Managerial career
1946–1948 Colchester United
1950–1961 West Ham United
1961–1965 Southend United
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Playing career

West Ham United

A prolific goal scorer as a schoolboy Fenton joined West Ham schoolboys eleven and won an England schoolboys eleven cap against Scotland, at Ibrox Park, in 1929. He made his West Ham debut in 1932 and played regularly until the outbreak of World War II. He joined the Army and served as a PT instructor in North Africa and Burma.[2] Mainly as a wing half, but also as a utility player, Fenton made 179 appearances and scored 19 goals in first class games for the Hammers. He also made 204 appearances and scored 44 goals during World War II fixtures.[3]

Managerial career

Colchester United

At the end of the war Fenton went on to become player-manager at Southern League team Colchester United.[4]

West Ham United

He returned to Upton Park in 1948 to become assistant manager to Charlie Paynter before becoming manager of West Ham in 1950.[2] Fenton's greatest achievement was in winning The Hammers the Division Two championship in the 1957–58 season and thereby securing the club top flight football for the first time since 1932.[5] The 1957–58 and 1958–59 seasons saw The Hammers achieve two goalscoring records; 1957–58 101 league goals[5] in a season and 1958–59, 59 home league goals in a season which was even more remarkable being the season following promotion to Division One.

During his time Fenton was responsible for establishing "The Academy" and the development of youth teams[2] that reached the F.A. Youth Cup Final twice in three Years over the period 1956–59. With the help of chairman Reg Pratt he was also responsible for encouraging as many players as possible in taking their FA Coaching Badges to ensure the players had something to fall back on when their playing days were over. Fenton's departure from West Ham in March 1961 has never been fully explained by the club. Under strain and on sick-leave and with West Ham's league position suffering he left the club under circumstances which both he and the club decided would remain confidential.[6] He was succeeded as manager in 1961 by Ron Greenwood.

Seven of the West Ham 1964 FA Cup winning team had either been signed by Ted Fenton from other clubs, or had worked their way up from the Academy during his time as manager.

Southend United

Following his exit from West Ham, Fenton had four undistinguished years as manager of Southend United before his dismissal in May 1965. He never returned to football following his sacking by Southend.[7]

Outside football

His brother Benny Fenton was also a West Ham United player and later managed Millwall.

On 4 July 1992, he was injured in a car crash in Leicestershire, and died in hospital seven days later from his injuries.[8]

References
  • Northcutt, John (1993). West Ham United A Complete Record. Breedon Books. ISBN 1-873626-44-4.

Notes
  1. Joyce, Michael (2012) [2002]. Football League Players' Records 1888 to 1939. Nottingham: SoccerData. p. 96. ISBN 978-1-905891-61-0.
  2. West Ham United A Complete Record. p. 98.
  3. Welcome to the Wonderful World of West Ham United Statistics Ted Fenton www.westhamstats.info
  4. The U's History: The 30s & 40s Archived 17 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine www.cu.fc.com
  5. "Promotion party paves the way". West Ham United F.C. 18 September 2007. Archived from the original on 28 January 2015.
  6. West Ham United A Complete Record. p. 99.
  7. Former Managers Archived 19 June 2012 at the Wayback Machine www.southendunited.co.uk
  8. "Sport in Short: Football". The Independent. London. 15 July 1992. Archived from the original on 26 May 2022. Retrieved 18 April 2011.
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