One of the great Spurs goalkeepers, Ted Ditchburn was born on this day in 1921. Having spent some time on the club’s ground staff before signing professional forms in 1939. Due to the outbreak of the Second World War, and Ted’s service with the RAF, saw his initial years being restricted to war league matches.
At the end of the war the brave, muscular keeper returned to Tottenham and made his Football League debut in a 2–1 reverse against Birmingham City on 31 August 1946. He went on to play in an unbroken run of 247 matches between April 1948 and March 1954. An ever-present member of the side that won promotion as Division Two champions in 1949–50 and the First division league title the following year, he developed the ‘short throw’ that provided the starting block for Tottenham’s famous push and run style of the early 1950s. A broken finger against Chelsea ended his career with Spurs in August 1958 after making 452 appearances in all competitions for the Lilywhites.
He also made 6 appearances for England