James Alfred Standen (born 30 May 1935) is an English former professional

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

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

in the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

for

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

Luton Town Luton Town Football Club is a professional association football, football club from Luton, Bedfordshire, England. The club currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. Nicknamed "The Hatters", L ...

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 ...

Millwall Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Poplar, north of Greenwich and Deptford, east of ...

and

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

. He won the

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 ...

and the

European Cup Winners' Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European association football, football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The competition's official name was originally the European Cup Winners' Cup; it was renam ...

with West Ham. Standen was also a professional

cricketer 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

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Shropshire, Staffordshire, and the West Midlands (county), West ...

, where he won a

County Championship The County Championship, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Rothesay County Championship, is the only domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales. Established in 1890, it is organised by the England and Wales Cri ...

Football career

Jim Standen started his footballing career at Rickmansworth, being discovered there by Leslie Compton who introduced him to

, where he joined the club in 1953. His appearances at Arsenal were limited, first by

National Service National service is a system of compulsory or voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act ...

and then by the presence of

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

international Jack Kelsey. He finally made his debut for Arsenal against

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2021 population of 78,266. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River B ...

on 7 December 1957. He then deputised for Kelsey when he was injured in the 1958–59 season and upon Kelsey's return the two goalkeepers shared the spot during the 1959–60 season. However, Kelsey regained the number one jersey outright at the start of 1960–61 and Standen left Arsenal for

in October 1960. He made 38 appearances for Arsenal in all. At Luton, Standen was forced to understudy again, this time for

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 ...

's Ron Baynham. Standen then joined east London club

as an emergency signing after their regular keeper Lawrie Leslie suffered a broken leg in 1962. He became a big hit at Upton Park and went on to win the 1963–64 FA Cup and the 1964–65 European Cup Winners' Cup with the club. Altogether Standen made 179 league and 57 cup appearances for West Ham. After losing his place due to the arrival of Bobby Ferguson in 1967, Standen moved to the Detroit Cougars in the United States. He returned to England with

for the 1969–70 season, playing eight games for the south London club before signing a two-year contract with

. After 13 games for Pompey, he retired from football. After his retirement, he owned a sports shop in

Camberley Camberley is a town in north-west Surrey, England, around south-west of central London. It is in the Surrey Heath, Borough of Surrey Heath and is close to the county boundaries with Hampshire and Berkshire. Known originally as "Cambridge Tow ...

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

, before moving to

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, where he was a goalkeeper coach at Fresno State University for a time.

Cricket career

As a cricketer, Standen was primarily a right-arm medium pace bowler. After previously playing for Chorleywood and in the

Minor Counties Championship The NCCA 3 Day Championship or National County Championship is a season-long competition in England and Wales that is contested by the members of the National Counties Cricket Association (NCCA), the so-called national counties (previously ca ...

for

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and one of the home counties. It borders Bedfordshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Essex to the east, Greater London to the ...

, he joined

in 1959 and played

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is of three or more days scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officially adju ...

. He won the

with them in 1964, playing in 11 of the 28 games and heading the First Class bowling averages with 52 wickets at 14.42. The following season the county won the title again, but he played in only one match. In all he took 313 first-class wickets between 1959 and 1970 at an average of 25.34.

Honours

Football: West Ham United

: 1963–64 *

FA Charity Shield The Football Association Community Shield (formerly the Charity Shield) is English football's annual match contested at Wembley Stadium between the champions of the previous Premier League season and the holders of the FA Cup. If the Premier ...

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 – In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patria ...

: 1964–65

Cricket: Worcestershire

References

External links

Jim Standen
at westhamstats.info
Nostalgia Series; Jim Standen
at West Ham Till I Die {{DEFAULTSORT:Standen, Jim 1935 births Living people Footballers from the London Borough of Enfield People from Edmonton, London English men's footballers Men's association football goalkeepers Arsenal F.C. players Luton Town F.C. players West Ham United F.C. players Millwall F.C. players Portsmouth F.C. players English cricketers Worcestershire cricketers International Cavaliers cricketers Hertfordshire cricketers Minor Counties cricketers English Football League players Cricketers from the London Borough of Enfield Detroit Cougars (soccer) players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States California State University, Fresno people English expatriate sportspeople in the United States English expatriate men's footballers 20th-century English sportsmen