Les Boulter (footballer)

Les Boulter
Personal information
Full name Leslie Mervyn Boulter[1]
Date of birth (1913-08-31)31 August 1913
Place of birth Ebbw Vale, Wales
Date of death 30 November 1974(1974-11-30) (aged 61)
Playing position Inside left
Youth career
Cwm Athletic
Senior career*
Years Team Apps† (Gls)†
1932–1939 Charlton Athletic 167 (27)
1939–1947 Brentford 16 (1)
1940 → Manchester City (guest) 1 (0)
→ Blackpool (guest)
1947–1948 Yeovil Town (4)
National team
1938 Wales 1 (1)

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.

† Appearances (goals)

Leslie Mervyn "Les" Boulter (31 August 1913 – 30 November 1974) was a Welsh professional football inside left, best remembered for his time in the Football League with Charlton Athletic, with whom he ascended from the Division Three South to Division One in successive seasons in the mid-1930s.[1] He scored on his only appearance for Wales at international level.

Club career

Charlton Athletic

An inside left, Boulter began his career at Division Two side Charlton Athletic.[1] After suffering relegation to the Division Three South in 1933, Boulter was part of the team which completed a meteoric rise to Division One, in two seasons, securing the Division Three South title in 1934/35 and a runners-up finish in Division Two in 1935/36.[2] The Addicks amazingly challenged for the league championship in their first three seasons in the top-flight. Boulter departed The Valley in February 1939, after making 176 appearances and scoring 29 goals during his time with the club.[1]

Brentford

Boulter moved to fellow Division One side Brentford in February 1939, for a £5000 fee.[1] Signing on the same day as forward Tommy Cheetham, the pair made their debuts in a 4-2 defeat to Aston Villa on 7 February.[3] He scored his first goal for the club in a 1-1 draw with Bolton Wanderers just over a month later.[4] Boulter and Cheetham's signings boosted the struggling Bees into mid-table, but a late slump saw them just miss out on relegation.[5] Boulter made just one appearance in the 1939/40 season (before competitive football was suspended due to the outbreak of the Second World War), which came in a 5-1 Football League Jubilee Fund defeat to Chelsea on 19 August 1939.[6] Boulter was held on a retainer throughout the war by Brentford, but he departed the club in 1947, without having made any further competitive appearances.[1] Boulter made 17 appearances and scored one goal during his time at Griffin Park.[7]

Wartime guest appearances

Boulter appeared as a guest for Manchester City and Blackpool during the Second World War.[8][9]

Yeovil Town

Boulter dropped into non-league football to sign for Southern League side Yeovil Town in 1947.[10] He scored five goals during the 1947/48 season, helping the Glovers to an eighth-place finish.[11]

International career

Boulter won one cap for Wales, scoring in a 3-1 British Home Championship victory over Ireland on 15 March 1939.[12]

Honours

Charlton Athletic

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Haynes, Graham; Coumbe, Frank (2006). Timeless Bees: Brentford F.C. Who's Who 1920-2006. Harefield: Yore Publications. p. 24. ISBN 978-0955294914.
  2. ↑ "Football Club History Database - Charlton Athletic". Retrieved 26 November 2014.
  3. ↑ "Brentford Football Club History". Retrieved 26 November 2014.
  4. ↑ "Brentford Football Club History". Retrieved 26 November 2014.
  5. ↑ "Page Not Found - statto.com". Archived from the original on 2014-10-07. Retrieved 26 November 2014.
  6. ↑ "Brentford Football Club History". Retrieved 26 November 2014.
  7. ↑ "Brentford Football Club History". Retrieved 26 November 2014.
  8. ↑ ASKmultimedia. "MCFC STATS - THE Unofficial Man City Stats, News and Trivia Website". Retrieved 26 November 2014.
  9. ↑ "FOOTBALLERS - WAR TIME GUESTS". Retrieved 26 November 2014.
  10. ↑ "Yeovil Town Goalscorers Between 01/01/1940 and 31/12/1949". Retrieved 26 November 2014.
  11. ↑ "Yeovil Town : First Team Results : 1947-48 Season". Retrieved 26 November 2014.
  12. ↑ "Wales v Ireland, 15 March 1939". 11v11.com. Retrieved 26 November 2014.
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