Len Quested

Wilfred Leonard Quested (9 January 1925 – 20 August 2012) was an English footballer. Quested played one match for England B as well as being selected as a travelling reserve for a Full International for England. In 1957 he moved to Australia where he played for the Sydney clubs Auburn and Hakoah. He also played in an unofficial match for Australia.

Life

Quested was stationed with the Royal Navy at HMS Golden Hind, which was a Royal Navy barracks and British pacific fleet transit camp in Sydney with locations in Woolloomooloo and around Warwick Farm. Playing for the Golden Hind team in the NSWSFA Division One team he played Jack Aston and John Ball who would later go on to play with distinction in England.

After his stint in Australia, Quested returned to England playing with Folkestone Town F.C. in 1946 and 1947 before signing with Fulham F.C. where he played between 1947 and 1951. In 1951 he signed for Huddersfield Town A.F.C. where he played until 1957.

In 1957 he emigrated to Australia with his wife who was born there. On arriving in Sydney he was signed by Auburn in the NSW state league. In September he won the state championship through a 4–3 victory over Canterbury-Marrickville in front of a record crowd of more than 8,400. He had a hand in two of Auburn's goals when the team came back from being 3–1 behind. in 1958 Auburn again reached the grand final, but this time lost 2–1 against the same opponent.

In May 1959 Quested got to play for Australia in a test match on the Sydney Sports Ground in Moore Park which was lost 7–1 to Scottish club Heart of Midlothian FC in front of a crowd of more than 16,000.

In a match against Bankstown in April 1963 Quested found himself for the first time relegated to the reserve team since playing in Australia. He returned to the main team, but the clubs soon put him on the transfer list with a £750 fee.

Thus, in May 1963 he signed with Hakoah. After having played only three matches for the eastern suburbs side, in July he had to undergo a knee cartilage operation. In January 1964 he joined the newly formed side of Cumberland United, an amalgamation of Auburn and Gladesville-Ryde, as non-playing coach. The club became eighth in the league of 12 teams.

In 1965 former Scottish B-international and Gladesville/Cumberland first grade player Bernie Kelly took on the coaching job and Quested played for a year with the team of Awaba near Newcastle which became fifth in the Northern NSW Division One and reached the final of the Daniels Cup Winners, which they lost 5–2 to league runner-ups Adamstown Rosebud.

In 1966 he returned to Mona Park to coach Cumberland United once more. He3 stayed until 1967 when they were relegated. Thereafter the side regrouped or renamed and played as Auburn in the second state division.

In 1971 he became team manager of Auburn. For much of his later life Quested devoted his football skills to developing young footballers and coached Robbie Slater amongst others.

Len Quested's son Gary also became a soccer player and got to play twice for Australia. Len Quested settled in Kuluin, a suburb of Maroochydore on Queensland's Sunshine Coast. He died on 20 August 2012.

References

External links

Career statistics
OzFootball
* Ivan Ponting:

, The Independent,. 16 October 2012
*
Obituary:Len Quested
, YorkshireLive, 16 October 2012

{{DEFAULTSORT:Quested, Len
1925 births
2012 deaths
Footballers from Folkestone
Australian men's soccer players
English emigrants to Australia
English men's footballers
England men's B international footballers
Fulham F.C. players
Huddersfield Town A.F.C. players
Australian soccer managers
English football managers
English Football League players
Men's association football defenders
Men's association football midfielders
Folkestone F.C. players
20th-century Royal Navy personnel
Military personnel from Kent
Royal Navy sailors
20th-century Australian sportsmen
20th-century English sportsmen