Les Bennett

Les Bennett

Personal information
Full name	Leslie Donald Bennett
Date of birth	(1918-01-10)10 January 1918
Place of birth	Wood Green, England
Date of death	29 April 1999(1999-04-29) (aged 81)
Place of death	Hackney, England
Height	5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Position(s)	Inside forward
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1946–1954	Tottenham Hotspur	272	(104)
1954–1955	West Ham United	26	(3)
1956	Clacton Town	?	(?)
1959–1960	Romford	3	(0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Les Bennett (10 January 1918 – 29 April 1999) was an English professional footballer who played for Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham United.

Football career

Bennett joined Tottenham as a junior in May 1939. He spent much of the World War II years serving his country with the Devon Regiment in Burma, India and Egypt, before making his Football League debut against Birmingham City on 31 August 1946. The quick- thinking, energetic inside forward was an important part of the push and run side of the 1950s. He made 294 appearances and scored on 124 occasions in all competitions for the club between 1946–1954. Bennett transferred to West Ham in December 1954 playing another 26 matches and scoring three goals. In August 1956 he became player–coach for Clacton before finishing his football career at Romford in 1959-60.

Honours

Tottenham Hotspur

• Football League Second Division winners: 1949–50
• Football League First Division winners: 1950–51
• Football League First Division runners-up: 1951–52

Post-football career

Bennett managed a caravan site in Clacton and was employed as a security guard at the University of Essex before retiring. He came out of retirement in 1964 to play in a " Push and Run" XI for the John White memorial fund.

External links

• Tottenham Hotspur F.C A-Z of players Retrieved 29 November 2012 Archived 3 June 2009 at WebCite
• Les Bennett at Post War English & Scottish Football League A–Z Player's Transfer Database
• Guardian newspaper obituary Retrieved 13 May 2009