Bedford Jezzard - ex landlord of Thatched House
Thought anyone who drinks in this pub might find the following obit from the Independent interesting.++++Bedford Jezzard, who died on May 21 aged 77, was one of the most prolific goalscorers of the 1950s; such was his strike-rate that he was capped by England even though his club, Fulham, were then languishing in the Second Division. Jezzard's anni mirabiles were between 1952 and 1956 when, fed by Johnny Haynes and Bobby Robson, he scored 123 times in 160 matches. In the 1953-54 season he claimed 38 league goals, a tally that remains Fulham's post-war record.Strong, quick off the mark and determined, Jezzard's abilities came to the attention of the England manager Walter Winterbottom, and having scored a hatrick for England B against West Germany in March 1954, he made his debut against Hungary in Budapest in May that year.That the side was mauled 7-1 by the Magyars was no fault of Jezzard's, and he travelled with the squad to that year's World Cup in Switzerland. He could not, however, displace a front line assembled from the talents of Tom Finney, Stanley Matthews, Nat Lofthouse and Tommy Taylor, and in the event played only once more for England, in late 1955 against Northern Ireland.Bedford Alfred George Jezzard was born at Clerkenwell, London, on October 19 1927. He played amateur football for Watford, and, following Army service in India at the end of the war, joined Fulham in 1948. After just three matches, he was promoted from the reserves to the first team, which he helped to that season's Second Division Championship.As now, Fulham was a homely club, lacking the resources of their London rivals. The side managed to cling on to their new status until 1952, when they returned to the Second Division. But it was the making of Jezzard. In total, he would score 154 goals (all in the league) for Fulham in 306 matches, a haul surpassed since only by Haynes and Gordon Davies. At the age of 30, Jezzard was forced to retire by an ankle injury. Soon he became youth coach at Fulham, and nine months later took over as manager. He radiated a quiet authority, and won promotion back to the First Division in his first season in charge.As well as Haynes, the side now boasted Jimmy Hill, Tosh Chamberlain and the young George Cohen, and the team kept their heads well above water for the next four years. Although they were never title contenders, in 1962 a gallant run took them to the semi-finals of the FA Cup.Jezzard, still in his mid-thirties, was marked out for great things; but the culture of football had begun to change, spurred principally by Hill's successful campaign against the maximum wage.With small clubs now no longer able to prevent their talent from moving to better-paying teams, it made sense to cash in their assets, and in 1964 the directors of Fulham sold the team's rising star Alan Mullery to Tottenham.Jezzard was not consulted, and with the club's long-serving general manager and trainer having recently departed as well, he decided to turn his back on the game. For many years afterwards he happily ran the Thatched House pub in Hammersmith.
Andy Jones ● 7795d1 Comments ● 7771d