Date / Year of birth: 2nd October 1925

Position: Winger

Season of first appearance: 1958/59

Season of last appearance: 1959/60

Also played for: Central Park, Finchley, West Ham United (93,31) and Notts County (30,6)

Left-sided player born in Poplar, London who was known as a larger than life character blessed with pace, the ability to cross accurately and a keen eye for goal.

Ken's senior career started during 1945/46 when he agreed to play for East Ham-based Central Park in an FA Cup Qualifying Round tie as a favour to a friend whilst on leave from the Royal Navy. He arrived late and went on at half-time with Central Park losing 1-0. Remarkably Ken then scored six times in the second period and West Ham approached him a few days later.

The Hammers arranged for Ken to play a game for Athenian League side Finchley as a kind of trial and when he impressed Finchley asked him to stay on for the remainder of 1945/46. Ken took them up on their offer despite West Ham wanting to sign him. However it was agreed that he would join the Hammers as a professional for the 1946/47 campaign.

In October 1947 Ken made his debut for West Ham's first team in a home game against Chesterfield. He filled in for future Margate player Jackie Wood. Ken sensationally scored with his first touch and went on to bag a hat-trick from the left wing, making him the only player in the club's history at the time to have scored three in their first Football League appearance.

During the years that followed Ken struggled to gain a regular first team place but he kept up an excellent scoring ratio when he did feature in the senior side. His best season was 1955/56 when he scored 14 goals in 37 appearances and won a call up to the England squad for a match against Brazil.

Ken made his presence felt off the field too and one of his team-mates described him as being "as mad as a March hare." He once went on strike in a row about wages with Hammers boss Ted Fenton and ended up throwing his boots at Fenton telling him "see if they ******* fit yer, because you can play in my place. I'm finished."

Ken was also the first player at West Ham to own a car - a black and chrome American Ford Chrysler - and he was a regular at the luxurious Astor Club in Mayfair, London. He was able to afford such luxuries due to inheriting his mother's tobacconist shop when he got married and then opening up a second shop nearby. Ken was earning around £60 a week from his businesses when the maximum football wage was just £14 per week.

He made a total of 93 senior appearances for the Hammers in almost ten years with the club, scoring 31 times, and also scored 73 goals in 191 games for the reserves before leaving Upton Park to join Notts County in March 1957.

Ken made 30 first team appearances for the Magpies during 1956/57 and 1957/58 and then signed for Margate in the summer of 1958 where he linked up with his old West Ham team-mate Almer Hall who was Margate's manager.

Ken made an instant impression at Hartsdown Park by being involved in four of Margate's goals in a 6-3 win over Bexleyheath & Welling on 23.8.58. It was the opening day of the 1958/59 season and Ken's debut for the club. In addition to his 'assists' he had the distinction of scoring the goal of the game from 25 yards.

Ken went on to make a total of 38 appearances during 1958/59 and on 15.11.58 he was in the side that lost 3-2 at Headington in the FA Cup 1st Round. He scored 15 times during the campaign including a brilliant solo goal in a 7-2 win over Faversham on 20.4.59. Ken beat four players before firing home and the local press said that he was often the star of the show but sometimes tried to do too much on his own or attempted to beat a man too many. The papers also felt that Ken also tended to 'blow hot and cold' and one writer summed it up by saying he "shone like the July sun in patches, but at other times had the brilliance of a glow-worm".

On 20.12.58 Ken played over 70 minutes in goal when Stan Earl was carried off in a Kent League game at Dover. Margate lost 6-1 and the Isle of Thanet Gazette said that he "failed to earn the title of being a good deputy custodian". Despite that less than glowing tribute Ken again took over between the sticks when Earl was injured in 2-1 defeat at Ramsgate on 27.3.59.

During the 1959/60 season Ken was constantly troubled by a knee injury but still managed to make 38 appearances and again scored consistently. His tally of 19 goals included a hat-trick in a 7-0 Southern League Cup win over Dover at Hartsdown Park on 3.9.59. Ken also scored another memorable solo goal during the campaign when he beat four defenders before firing home in a 3-1 win at Dover on 9.9.59. On 14.11.59 he played in a 1-1 draw at Kettering in the FA Cup 1st Round and Ken also featured in the replay at Hartsdown Park on 19.11.59 that Margate won 3-2. He was then in the side that drew 0-0 with visitors Crystal Palace in the 2nd Round on 5.12.59 and took part in the replay at Selhurst Park on 9.12.59 that the Eagles won 3-0. In its end of season review the East Kent Times said that Ken was "occasionally tantalizing but more often wonderful to watch".

However at the end of the season he was controversially released due to his persistent knee injury and his departure upset many fans who felt he still had much to offer. The local press also believed that Ken should have been retained, provided he could prove his fitness, and by the late summer of 1960 Ken did indeed claim to be fully fit and wanted to return to Hartsdown. When the club didn't take him up on his offer Ken retired from football aged 34 although he did play for a team of West Ham 'old boys' in a charity match during April 1961. Freddie Kearns and Albert Foan also participated.

Ken had continued to run his shops during his time at Hartsdown and still drove his Chrysler which he once used to travel to a Margate away game. Ken amused his fellow players by continually overtaking the team coach they were on during the journey.

In the late 1960's he sold his shops and became landlord of The Bell pub in Rainham, Essex which Ken ran with his wife for nine years before a robbery prompted them to move on.

Ken later ended up co-owning six betting shops with his son Raymond who had himself played as a left winger in West Ham's youth team during the 1960's. The shops were eventually sold to Ladbrokes. Ken also spent a lot of time in Florida, USA where he owned a home and he was still flying out there regularly in 2006 aged 80.

During the same year Ken was the subject of an excellent article in West Ham's 'Ex' magazine and recalled watching the Hammers as a child saying "my mother used to put me on the supporters' coach and I'd go and watch the team play away at places like Portsmouth when I was just six or seven years of age." When asked to describe himself as player Ken replied "I think I was a good, strong player - I could do anything with my left foot, hit a ball from any angle, although my right was not all that good." Recalling his battle for a first team place Ken said "I always had somebody in the team who stood in my way, although it never worried me at the time. I don't look back with any regrets."

Ken died on 19.5.08 aged 82 after collapsing while attending hospital for a routine check-up near his home in Southend, Essex. In the 2006 'Ex' interview he had said "I've lived West Ham. And I'll die West Ham."