December 14 – Villa 1 Drake 7
SOME people in life are annoyingly good at everything, and Ted Drake was one of those. As well as being one of Southampton and Arsenal’s greatest ever players Drake managed Chelsea to their only title in the twentieth century and was also a county cricketer.
Today in 1935 Drake was doing what he did best though – scoring goals. Lots of them in fact, as he netted every one of Arsenal’s seven in their 7-1 win over Aston Villa.
Drake was one of his era’s superstars. He began his career at Winchester City, where he supplemented his Saturday afternoons with work as a gas-meter reader. After missing a trial match for Spurs with an injury he signed for Southampton and in less than two seasons he scored 48 goals for Saints, before copping an admiring glance from innovative Arsenal boss Herbert Chapman.
A £6,500 move followed in March 1934 and although he arrived too late to pick up a Championship medal he was an integral part of their side that defended the title next season, scoring 42 goals in 41 games. This included a barmy three hat-tricks and four four-goal hauls.
England soon came a-knocking and Drake made his debut in the infamous ‘Battle of Highbury’ game against Italy and scored the winner in England’s bad-tempered 3-2 win.
Next season Drake bagged his seven goals against Villa at Villa Park, cheekily trying to take credit for an eighth that hit the bar and bounced down, 1966-style. Later that season he would win the FA Cup with the Gunners and would go on to pick up another League title in the 1937/38 season.
Throughout his career Drake would also dabble in county cricket, playing 16 matches for Hampshire, with a highest knock of 45.
Repetitive injuries forced Drake into retirement in 1945 after scoring 139 goals in 184 games for Arsenal, where he is currently joint-fifth in their all-time scoring charts. A move into management followed with Hendon before he became boss of Reading in 1947.
Drake was appointed Chelsea manager in 1952 and set about modernising the Stamford Bridge side, introducing scouting reports, a new training regime and also a new badge and nickname. He was rewarded for this with another championship medal, as the club picked up their first ever title in 1955. In doing so Drake became the first person to win the league as both a player and a manager.
We’ve got some cracking retro footage of Drake’s seven-goal haul below, so have a gander at that and see what else was going on today here.
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