SPOKED -APOLOGIES FOR ERRORS-HALLOWEEN!!!

An extra today...for 24th October 1925 England debuts.

Five players, George Armitage, captain Claude Ashton, Billy Austin, Frank Hudspeth and Sydney Puddefoot made their England debuts in the dull 0-0 draw against Northern Ireland in Belfast. Puddefoot was the only one of the five to play for England a second time!

It is a far cry from February 1922 when local born Sydney Puddefoot moved from West Ham to Falkirk for a world record fee of £5,000. The forward's sale almost caused a riot in East London but the club claimed it was the player's "doing". The club stated that Puddefoot will benefit from branching out in "commercial circles in Falkirk" which will be "assured of a nice little competency" when his football days are over.

Having played for the Hammers 158 times between 1912-22, scoring 102 goals, Puddefoot did not want to go despite having his brother, Len, move with him and getting a one off payment of £390, when weekly wages were £8. West Ham were pushing for promotion to Division One however Falkirk matched manager Syd King's valuation, to his surprise and Puddefoot had to go.

The money was raised by the Falkirk supporters (actually £6,000) who wanted the Bairns to reach the state of success gained in 1913 when they won the Scottish Cup.  Falkirk had done well in the league after the war and came 4th in 1923-4, but then slipped away as Puddefoot left. He scored 45 goals in three seasons but did not enjoy Scotland, claiming that the Scots would not pass to him.
He moved to Blackburn Rovers in 1925 for £4,000, helping them win the FA Cup in 1928 with an assist. Remarkably this Final was the first where BOTH SIDES SCORED since 1910. Rovers beat Huddersfield Town 3-1.

In 1910 Newcastle United beat Barnsley 2-0 in a replay after a 1-1 draw. For 15 seasons after this, there was only one side scoring in the Final. There was of course a gap of Final ties due to the War (1916-1919)**

Rovers, narrowly missing relegation, beat Huddersfield who were in their pomp with Alex Jackson, one of Scotland's "Wembley Wizards", in the forward line and the club already league champions (1924, 1925 and 1926) and Runners Up in 1927 and 1928.
Sydney appeared twice for England against Northern Ireland and Scotland in the 1925-6 season.
His playing record was by 1933, scored 146 goals in 375 games.

He then went back to West Ham for a year moving into management, remarkably in Turkey with Fenerbahce until 1933, Galatasaray until 1936 and Northampton Town until the outbreak of war.
He then scouted for Southend and no doubt got involved with county cricket having played for Essex briefly in 1922-3. He died in 1972 aged 72.

in picture, Puddefoot scores one of five West Ham goals in an 8-1 win over Chesterfield in 1914.

**(More recently, in 1993-4 Manchester United beat Chelsea 4-0 in the FA Cup Final. There was then a run of Finals when one side failed to score; i.e. 21 Finals had one team scoring 0. Up to 1994-2000 inclusive, there was a run of no score for the loser,

In 2000-1 Liverpool beat Chelsea 2-1 but PRIOR to that only one Cup Final side scored through to 2005-6 when Liverpool and West Ham drew 3-3 and after extra time the game went to Liverpool winning on penalties.