Ted Drake (16 August 1912 – 30 May 1995)
14th December 1935, a crowd of 60,891 Villa Park watched in disbelief as Aston Villa lost 1-7 at home to Arsenal, with Ted Drake scoring all seven of Arsenal’s goals. That set the record for the most goals scored in a match by a player in the top division and was the most goals scored in any competitive match by an Arsenal player.
Edward Joseph Drake: Whilst Ted was at school, Tottenham offered him a trial match, however he was unable to accept the offer due to injury. After leaving school he became a gas reader whilst at the same time playing for non-league side Winchester City of the Hampshire League. During his time at The Citizens, he helped the club win the 1929/30 Northern section of the Hampshire League and assisted them to glory in the Hampshire Senior Cup for the first time, just before leaving in the summer of 1931 for Southampton. Within two seasons of signing professional with the Saints, Ted was the club's main talisman, when Arsenal's Herbert Chapman tried to sign him. Despite Arsenal being on their way to the first of three consecutive First Division League titles during the 1932/33 season, Drake turned down Chapman’s offer!!
In March 1934, whilst the Saint was top-goalscorer in the Second Division with 22 goals, George Allison now Arsenal manager following the death of Herbert Chapman, swooped in and signed Drake at last for a meagre fee in today’s footballing terms, £6,500! Later that month the man who had been hailed “the greatest centre forward in the world” by Allison scored on his debut for the Gunners as they narrowly scraped past Wolves to win 3-2 at Highbury.
Drake went on to win two league titles and an FA Cup, as well as five England caps (surprisingly only 5!). Drake is Arsenal's joint fifth highest goalscorer of all time. He also holds the record for the most goals scored in a top flight game in English football, with seven against Aston Villa in December 1935. A centre-forward in his time, Drake has been described as a "classic number 9" and as a "strong, powerful, brave and almost entirely unthinking" player who "typified the English view."
During his first proper season, Drake established his reputation in the game as a tough, fast and unwavering striker by nature racking up 44 goals throughout the 1934/35 campaign, which is a record for the most goals scored in a season at the club. This success saw Drake score three hat-tricks, picking up four, four-goal hauls as well as his first Gunners' League title in 1935, which saw them secure their historic First Division League title treble.
The season also saw the striker make his England debut in the “Battle of Highbury” against World Cup Winners, Italy in November 1934, which the Three Lions won 3-2, with Drake scoring England's third goal of the match. This would be the first of his six strikes in five games for his country throughout the decade.
After struggling with attacking form, Drake turned up at Villa Park on the afternoon of December 14th, 1935, in need of some goals to rescue his position in the side. He would go on to break the record for the most goals scored in a top-flight game of English football which stands to this day, scoring every single goal in Arsenal’s 7-1 victory against the Villa side which at the time was coined “The Bank of England” after a massive transfer spending spree.
By the end of the 1935/36 season with the League title out of sight, there was only one competition the Gunners could get their hands on, the FA Cup. In the week leading up to the final, there was a slim chance of Ted playing due to injury, however in the final 24 hours before kick off he was included in the line-up. The encounter proved to be a difficult one against Second Division Sheffield United. In the final quarter of the game with The Gunners needing a hero, Drake popped up with the winning goal to grab the Gunners their second FA Cup of all time.
During the 1937/38 season, Drake reached his second league title with Arsenal, as the top-goalscorer for the fourth consecutive season with 18 goals, despite being knocked out of the later stages of the season by injury. On September 1st, 1939, World War Two broke out which meant the football season was abandoned, bringing Ted’s career to a halt just days after scoring four goals in a league match at home versus Sunderland. However, Drake had become the quickest player in Arsenal history to score 100 goals in 108 matches.
Whilst on a personal training course during the war years, Drake picked up a back injury from a swimming accident, forcing him to hang up his boots at the end of the war in 1945.
Overall, Drake had reached 139 goals as a prolific striker in 184 appearances and 47 strikes in 71 games before hand at his home club Southampton but, in the League, altogether he’d amassed 171 goals in 238 games.
In 1946 the retired footballer turned into a young ambitious manager starting off from humble beginnings, managing non-league team, Hendon in the 1946/47 Athenian League campaign, taking them to 9th in the table. At the end of the season Third Division outfit Reading requested Drake to take hold of their reins which he accepted. He led the club to second in the table in the 1948/49 season and then again in the 1951/52 season, The Royals weren’t able to get promoted to the Second Division as only first in the table got automatic promotion in those days.
In 1952, Chelsea took Drake to Stamford Bridge when just after signing, he said that he would need three years to win the title. At the end of the 1954/55 season, Chelsea had won the top-flight of English football for the first time with Drake’s words coming true. During the post match celebrations after Chelsea won the title Drake stood up in front of the directors box at Stamford Bridge and gave a speech about his greatest managerial success “This is the happiest day of my life, I was asked would we win the cup? I thought we might, but I thought we had a better chance of winning the First Division even better.”
By 1962, with Chelsea suffering the likelihood of probable relegation, Ted left Chelsea to make way for Tommy Docherty, who was unable to save the Blues at the end of the 1961/62 First Division campaign.
Drake later enjoyed spells as Life President, assistant manager and scout at Fulham in the later 1960s and 1970s, but after his testimonial match was held at Craven Cottage in 1978, he officially stepped down from the game. In 1995 Drake passed away at the age of 82 in his home at Raynes Park in Wimbledon after an illustrious life of footballing achievements.
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