Len Goulden

Goulden was born at Homerton, in Hackney, London, and raised in nearby Plaistow. He signed for West Ham United as an amateur in 1931, but was sent out to Chelmsford City and Leyton to gain experience. During this time he supported himself by working at the Tate & Lyle sugar refinery in Silvertown. He signed professional forms with West Ham in 1933 and remained with the Hammers for six years, making over 250 appearances and scoring 55 goals from the inside-left position. He was an ever-present, along with Joe Cockroft, during the 1936–37 season. His West Ham career was interrupted when World War II started and he never played another competitive match for the club, though he did win the Football League War Cup with them in 1940. Following the conflict, he signed with west Londoners Chelsea for £4,500 and linked up well with fellow new signings Tommy Lawton and Tommy Walker – the trio scored 47 goals between them in 1946–47 – though the side failed to make to challenge for honours, coming closest in the FA Cup, when they lost to Arsenal in the semi-finals, despite having led 2–0. Goulden retired as a player in 1950, having made 111 Chelsea appearances and scored 17 goals.

Appearances and goals

Goulden won 14 England caps while a West Ham player, scoring four goals. He made his debut on 14 May 1937, against Norway in Oslo. England won 6–0 with Goulden scoring in the 85th minute; barging through the defence he scored with a left foot shot. He also appeared in several wartime internationals, but these are not considered official full international matches.

Berlin 1938

The match against Germany in Berlin in 1938 is notorious because the England team were pressured by the Foreign Office into giving the Nazi salute while the German national anthem was played. The team were furious:

The dressing room erupted. There was bedlam. All the England players were livid and totally opposed to this, myself included. Everyone was shouting at once. Eddie Hapgood, normally a respectful and devoted captain, wagged his finger at the official and told him what he could do with the Nazi salute, which involved putting it where the sun doesn't shine. However, the British ambassador, Nevile Henderson, insisted, believing that doing so would help defuse dangerously high international tensions. There were 110,000 Germans watching the game, including Hermann Goering and Josef Goebbels, and Hitler had hoped to use the game for propaganda, in part because the German side included a player from the newly annexed Austria. Hitler was expected at the game, but it is believed that he did not attend. Goulden, who was Jewish, and normally known for his…

Goulden remained at Chelsea until 1952, before moving to Hertfordshire in November 1952 for a management opportunity at Watford. His first match in charge was a 1–1 draw at home to Coventry, and by the end of 1952–53 Goulden had guided his team to a top-10 finish in the Third Division South. That summer he signed Dave Bewley, Roy Brown and Maurice Cook, all of whom went on to play key roles during his reign. After guiding Watford to 4th and 7th in the next two campaigns, Goulden stepped down to become a coach midway through the 1955–56 season. However, his successor and former player Johnny Paton's spell yielded just 2 wins from 15 games, including defeat at the hands of non-league clubs Aldershot and Bedford Town. Goulden took over for the remainder of the season, but was only able to salvage a 21st-placed finish. After three years coaching overseas, Goulden returned to Watford in 1959, as part of new manager Ron Burgess's coaching staff. Burgess and Goulden's impact was immediate; Watford won promotion from the Fourth Division in 1960, and very nearly a second consecutive promotion in 1961. Goulden departed the following season, again coaching overseas, before returning to management in England with Banbury United in 1965. Goulden, assisted by his former player Maurice Cook, helped Banbury reach the Southern League for the first time in their history. After leaving in 1967, Goulden's final role in football came at Oxford United, where he managed the reserve team from…