Bedford Alfred George Jezzard (19 October 1927 – 21 May 2005) was an English

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

. Jezzard's teenage years coincided with the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, and he began football as an amateur with Croxley Boys and later

Watford Watford () is a town and non-metropolitan district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of Central London, on the banks of the River Colne, Hertfordshire, River Colne. Initially a smal ...

, for whom he made three

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

appearances. Upon the resumption of peacetime football, Jezzard spent his entire professional career as a striker at

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies in a loop on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea, London, Chelsea ...

, during the 1940s and 1950s. He holds the club's post-war record for league goals scored in a season – 39 in 1953–54. His Fulham career lasted only from 1948 to 1957, due to an irreversible injury. During his time at Fulham, he was picked for the

London XI The London XI was a Association football, football team that represented the city of London in the 1955–58 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup. The competition began in 1955, and the first tournament took three years to complete. The entrants were the ma ...

in the

Inter-Cities Fairs Cup The Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, most commonly referred to as the Fairs Cup and sometimes as the European Fairs Cup or Fairs Cities' Cup, was a European football competition played between 1955 and 1971. The Fairs Cup was the idea of FIFA vice-presid ...

. He won two

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

caps in 1954–55 and three England B caps, scoring six goals making him the England B all-time top scorer. Jezzard later managed Fulham from 1958 until 1964, taking them back into the First Division. He became discontented with the changes in football culture in the mid-1960s; essentially the abolition of the maximum wage, through the efforts of teammates

Jimmy Hill James William Thomas Hill, Order of the British Empire, OBE (22 July 1928 – 19 December 2015) was an English football in England, footballer and later a television personality. His career included almost every role in the sport, including pla ...

and

Johnny Haynes John Norman Haynes (17 October 1934 – 18 October 2005) was an English association footballer who played as an inside forward. He made 56 appearances for his country including 22 as captain. He was selected for three World Cup finals squads ...

, which led to the concentration of power in the hands of the richer clubs. He retired to run a pub. He died in May 2005 at the age of 77, and had been ill with multi-infarct dementia for some time.

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* 1927 births 2005 deaths People from Clerkenwell Footballers from the London Borough of Islington England men's international footballers English football managers English men's footballers 1954 FIFA World Cup players Fulham F.C. managers Fulham F.C. players England men's B international footballers English Football League players Watford F.C. players London XI players English Football League representative players Men's association football forwards 20th-century English sportsmen {{England-footy-forward-1920s-stub