Levi James Woolf (27 January 1916 – 27 January 2003) was a South African professional footballer who played one match in the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

for

Southampton Southampton () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire, S ...

in 1937.

Football career

Woolf was born in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a Megacity#List of megacities, megacity, and is List of urban areas by p ...

, South Africa but was determined to become a professional footballer in England. In September 1937, he travelled to Britain on board the Union-Castle liner, ''

Balmoral Castle Balmoral Castle () is a large estate house in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, and a residence of the British royal family. It is near the village of Crathie, west of Ballater and west of Aberdeen. The estate and its original castle were boug ...

''; a steward on the liner heard of Woolf's intentions and sent a telegram to the manager of

Southampton Football Club Southampton Football Club () is an English professional football club based in Southampton, Hampshire, which competes in the . Their home ground since 2001 has been St Mary's Stadium, before which they were based at The Dell. The club play ...

, Tom Parker. Parker arranged for Woolf to be met after he disembarked at Southampton Docks and he was given a trial. He was signed by the club after the trial match and was soon playing regularly at

inside right Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

in the reserves. On 11 December 1937, he made his first-team debut when he took the place of

Ray Parkin Raymond Edward Parkin (6 November 191019 June 2005) was an Australian naval seaman, writer, draftsman, artist and historian. He is noted for his memoirs of World War II (including his time as a prisoner-of-war), and for a major work on James Co ...

at inside-right for the Second Division match against

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. The team has playe ...

, with Parkin moving to

centre-forward Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

in place of Benny Gaughran who had recently been sold to

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

. Although the match was won 2–1, with Parkin scoring both Saints' goals, Woolf was not a great success and he returned to the reserves. In the summer of 1938, he joined Guildford City of the Southern League. At the end of his first season at Guildford, they finished as Southern League runners-up.

Later career

During the Second World War, Woolf enlisted in the Army and served in Burma. After the war, he returned to South Africa.

References

External links

Career details on www.11v11.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Woolf, Jimmy 1916 births 2003 deaths Soccer players from Johannesburg South African men's soccer players Southampton F.C. players Guildford City F.C. players English Football League players Men's association football defenders Southern Football League players