Les Gordon (footballer)

Leslie William Gordon (13 July 1903 – after 1936) was an English professional footballer who played as a left half in the Football League for Nottingham Forest and Brighton & Hove Albion.

Les Gordon
Personal information
Full name Leslie William Gordon[1]
Date of birth (1903-07-13)13 July 1903[1]
Place of birth Barking Town,[1] England
Height 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)[2]
Position(s) Left half
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
19??–1923 Grimsby Rovers
1923–1925 Sheffield United 0 (0)
1925–192? Crystal Palace 0 (0)
192?–1927 Shirebrook
1927–1928 Nottingham Forest 2 (0)
1928–1930 Brighton & Hove Albion 18 (0)
1936–19?? Cleethorpes UDC Buses
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Life and career

Gordon was born in 1903 in Barking Town, Essex, the son of William Gordon, an engineer, and his wife Adeline. By the time of the 1911 census, the family were living in Cleethorpes, Lincolnshire.[3]

Gordon played football for Grimsby Rovers before joining First Division club Sheffield United in 1923. He never broke through to the first team, and after two years moved on to Crystal Palace of the Third Division South, where he had a similar lack of success. After a spell with Midland League club Shirebrook, he signed for another First Division club, Nottingham Forest.[2] The Derby Daily Telegraph thought he had "height and weight on his side but lack[ed] something in steadiness in front of the sticks."[4] This time he managed to make his Football League debut, coming into an injury-hit Forest team for the visit to Hull City on 31 October,[5] but he appeared just once more that season.[1]

He then signed for Brighton & Hove Albion of the Third Division South, where he came into the first team in January 1929 and played 18 times before returning to the reserves. In December, he broke his leg in a Southern League match, an injury that finished his senior career at the age of 26. Gordon returned to Cleethorpes where he worked for the municipal bus company; in 1936, he applied for a permit to resume amateur status so that he could play for their works team.[2]

References
  1. Joyce, Michael (2004). Football League Players' Records 1888 to 1939. Nottingham: SoccerData. p. 103. ISBN 978-1-899468-67-6.
  2. Carder, Tim; Harris, Roger (1997). Albion A–Z: A Who's Who of Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. Hove: Goldstone Books. p. 98. ISBN 978-0-9521337-1-1.
  3. "Leslie William Gordon: England, Essex Parish Registers, 1538-1997". Retrieved 9 November 2018 – via FamilySearch.org.
    "Leslie William Gordon in household of Adelene Gordon, Cleethorpes, New Cleethorpes, Lincolnshire, England". 1911 England and Wales Census. Retrieved 9 November 2018 – via FamilySearch.org.
  4. "Once at Bramall Lane". Derby Daily Telegraph. 27 August 1927. p. 6.
  5. "Forest's team. Harrison in the side to meet Hull City". Nottingham Journal. 28 September 1927. p. 11. Harrison again comes into the team, replacing Morgan at centre-half, and Gordon, who is making his initial appearance with the first team, replaces Wallace.
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