Edward Robert Presland (27 March 1943 – 1 August 2021) 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 ...

who played as a defender in England for

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Stratford, London, Stratford, East London, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English f ...

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition buildin ...

Colchester United Colchester United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Colchester, Essex, England. The team competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1937, the club spent its ea ...

, Chelmsford City and

Wealdstone Wealdstone () is a district located in the centre of the London Borough of Harrow, England. It is located just north of Harrow, London, Harrow town centre and is south of Harrow Weald, west of Belmont, Harrow, Belmont and Kenton, London, Kenton, ...

and for

Jewish Guild The Jewish Guild is a social and sporting club in suburban Johannesburg, South Africa, founded in the late 19th century. They once fielded a football side that was runner-up in the South African cup competition and fielded the player George Bes ...

in South Africa. He was manager of Wealdstone,

Dulwich Hamlet Dulwich Hamlet Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in East Dulwich in south-east London, England. They are currently members of and play at Champion Hill. History The club was formed in 1893, by Lorraine 'Pa' Wilson. The ...

Hendon Hendon is an urban area in the London Borough of Barnet, northwest London northwest of Charing Cross. Hendon was an ancient Manorialism, manor and parish in the county of Middlesex and a former borough, the Municipal Borough of Hendon; it has ...

, Gravesend and Northfleet and

Dagenham Dagenham () is a town in East London, England, within the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham. Dagenham is centred east of Charing Cross. It was historically a rural parish in the Becontree Hundred of Essex, stretching from Hainault Fo ...

. He also played first-class and

List A List A cricket is a classification of the Limited overs cricket, limited-overs (one-day) form of the sport of cricket, with games lasting up to eight hours. List A cricket includes One Day International (ODI) matches and various domestic competit ...

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

for

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

Club career

Presland started as a junior for

before signing as a professional in October 1960. He did not make his debut until 27 February 1965 in a 2–1 home win against

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

in which he scored his only goal for West Ham. He made only six appearances for West Ham before moving to

in 1967. He had a spell on-loan with

signing on 11 October 1969. He made his Colchester United debut on the same day in a 2–1 home win against

Bradford Park Avenue Bradford (Park Avenue) Association Football Club, sometimes abbreviated as BPA AFC, is an association football club based in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. The team currently competes in , at the eighth tier of the English football league ...

. He made only six appearances for Colchester in all competitions, his last being in November 1969. After leaving Crystal Palace he played for Chelmsford City,

in South Africa and

Managerial career

On his return from South Africa Presland played for Wealdstone and moved on to manage the club. Similar roles followed with

, Gravesend and Northfleet, again with Dulwich Hamlet before moving to

as a coach. In 1980, he became their manager and led them to their victory in the 1980 FA Trophy Final with Dagenham beating

Mossley Mossley (/ˈmɒzli/) is a town and civil parish in Tameside, Greater Manchester, England, in the upper River Tame, Greater Manchester, Tame Valley and the foothills of the Pennines, south-east of Oldham and east of Manchester. The town grew ...

2–1 at

Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in the London Borou ...

. He was sacked almost immediately after the victory and then left football for a time before returning as a

scout Scout may refer to: Youth movement *Scout (Scouting), a child, usually 10–18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement ** Scouts (The Scout Association), section for 10-14 year olds in the United Kingdom ** Scouts BSA, sect ...

for

Ipswich Town Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. The club currently competes in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. Ipswich Town were founded in 1878 but did not turn ...

, West Ham and

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...

. As a scout for Tottenham, Presland played a central role in the recruitment of players

Gareth Bale Gareth Frank Bale (born 16 July 1989) is a Welsh former professional Association football, footballer who played as a right winger, most notably for Tottenham Hotspur F.C., Tottenham Hotspur, Real Madrid CF, Real Madrid, and the Wales national ...

and

Luka Modrić Luka Modrić (; born 9 September 1985) is a Croatian professional Association football, footballer who plays as a midfielder and Captain (association football), captains both La Liga club Real Madrid and the Croatia national football team, Cro ...

Cricket career

Presland played 30 first-class and 24

matches for

between 1962 and 1972. His highest score was 51 against

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire ( ; abbreviated Northants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Leicestershire, Rutland and Lincolnshire to the north, Cambridgeshire to the east, Bedfordshi ...

in 1967.

Death

On 1 August 2021, at the age of 78, Presland died of cancer at Queen Elizabeth Hospital,

Gateshead Gateshead () is a town in the Gateshead Metropolitan Borough of Tyne and Wear, England. It is on the River Tyne's southern bank. The town's attractions include the twenty metre tall Angel of the North sculpture on the town's southern outskirts, ...

References

External links

Eddie Presland at Cricket Archive
{{DEFAULTSORT:Presland, Eddie 1943 births 2021 deaths Men's association football defenders English men's footballers West Ham United F.C. players Crystal Palace F.C. players Colchester United F.C. players Chelmsford City F.C. players Wealdstone F.C. players Sportspeople from Loughton English Football League players English cricketers Essex cricketers English football managers English football scouts Ipswich Town F.C. non-playing staff West Ham United F.C. non-playing staff Tottenham Hotspur F.C. non-playing staff Wealdstone F.C. managers Dulwich Hamlet F.C. managers Hendon F.C. managers Ebbsfleet United F.C. managers English expatriate men's footballers English expatriate sportspeople in South Africa Expatriate men's soccer players in South Africa Deaths from cancer in England Cricketers from Essex 20th-century English sportsmen