Ted Drake
Born in Southampton, Drake started playing at Winchester City, before turning professional and joining Southampton, in 1931. A prolific centre-forward, he hit a hat-trick on his Saints debut and scored (in total) 48 goals in 72 league games.
Drake moved to Arsenal in March 1934 for Ł6,500, and scored on his league debut against Wolves. Although he joined too late to qualify for a League Championship medal in 1934, Drake would win one the following season, after scoring a spectacular 42 goals in 41 league games. With two more goals in the FA Cup and Charity Shield, Drake scored 44 in all that season, a record that holds to this day.
Drake would go on to win the FA Cup in 1936 and the League again in 1938. The Second World War curtailed Drake's career somewhat, although he served in the Royal Air Force as well as turning out for Arsenal in wartime games. However, Drake's career would not last long into peacetime; a spinal injury in 1945 forced him to retire from playing. With 139 goals in 184 games, he is the joint-fifth (along with Jimmy Brain) all-time scorer for Arsenal, as of 2005. He also won five England caps, scoring six times, and was one of seven Arsenal players who played for England in the "Battle of Highbury" against Italy in November 1934.
After retiring as a player, Drake managed Hendon in 1946, and then Reading from 1947 until 1952, when he moved to Chelsea. He led Chelsea to their only Division One title of the 20th century in 1955; Drake became the first person to win a Championship title both as player and manager. After leaving Chelsea in 1962, he became reserve team manager at Fulham (where his son, Bobby, played), later becoming a director and then life president of the Cottagers. He died in 1995, at the age of 82.
