Ted Drake: A serial winner with Arsenal & Chelsea

A fearless forward for George Allison's Arsenal in the 1930s, Ted Drake won two league titles and an FA Cup with the Gunners, and in his first full Highbury season of 1934-35, netted 42 league goals in 41 matches. 

Originally earmarked as a Gunners signing by Herbert Chapman, Drake signed from Southampton for £6,500 a few months after Chapman passed away in March 1934.

Drake was an instant hit in N5, and the Highbury crowd loved his full-blooded, bullish, physical approach. In our 1992 interview, he espoused his philosophy on the game: "My job was to put my head where no one else dared to. My headache would be gone in the morning, but the memory of scoring the goal would live with me forever." 

It is perhaps the quotation which sums up Drake best, and was preserved on the outside of the Emirates Stadium where Drake took his place as one of Arsenal’s 32 greatest players.

In Athletic News, Jimmy Catton wrote: "Drake’s career is already a romance. In five months, he has made a meteoric advance from what was obscurity to become England’s centre forward and one of the star players in the game." 

In that opening season, Drake endeared himself to the Highbury faithful by scoring a hat-trick against Tottenham in a 5-1 win in front of 70,544. Only Alan Sunderland and Eberechi Eze have since done likewise in a Gunners shirt.

Images from the time show Drake having sustained various knocks in the line of duty; gashes to the head, knee injuries, concussion and broken toes. 

Goalkeeper George Swindin explained: "I loved Ted. He’d do anything to score, and secured my win bonuses on many an occasion. As a Yorkshireman who liked to watch his pennies, I can’t tell you how good that made me feel!"

Drake's profile increased throughout the 1930s. One of seven Arsenal players in the England team which defeated World Cup winners Italy 3-2 in November 1934, Drake scored the third goal in the infamous 'Battle of Highbury,’ and a year later, netted all seven goals in his team's 7-1 away win at Villa Park.

Despite carrying a leg injury, Drake thumped home the winner in the 1936 FA Cup final against Sheffield United. Injuries began to pile up for Drake, but despite that, he still netted an impressive 17 goals in 27 matches as Arsenal won the thrilling 1937-38 title race.

With his playing career - he plundered 139 goals in just 184 Arsenal matches - curtailed by a back injury, Drake became Chelsea manager in 1952, and quickly introduced a rigorous new training regime, where the emphasis was placed primarily on ball work rather than physical stamina.

He revamped Chelsea's scouting network, using it to good effect when signing John McNichol, Frank Blunstone and Derek Saunders from lower league clubs. By 1955, the Blues, Drake dispensed with the Pensioners nickname, were Division One champions. Two years later, Drake also blooded legendary striker Jimmy Greaves in the Blues first team.

A legend from the black and white era, Drake was the first footballer to win the First Division title both as a player and a manager.

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