History – Ronnie Rooke fired Arsenal to their first League title after the war

Ronnie Rooke In late 1911 future prolific Arsenal goalscorer Ronnie Rooke was born, he would go on to fire Arsenal to their first title after The Second World War. Rooke stepped onto the football ladder at his local club Guildford City scoring 20 times in 19 matches throughout the 1931/32 season. Within a year Woking […] The post History – Ronnie Rooke fired Arsenal to their first League title after the war appeared first on Just Arsenal News.

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Ronnie Rooke

In late 1911 future prolific Arsenal goalscorer Ronnie Rooke was born, he would go on to fire Arsenal to their first title after The Second World War.

Rooke stepped onto the football ladder at his local club Guildford City scoring 20 times in 19 matches throughout the 1931/32 season.

Within a year Woking another Surrey side picked up Rooke where he served well too, fully embracing the 16 games he played for the Cardinals notching up 29 strikes.

At the end of the 1932/33 campaign Third Division South Crystal Palace stole Rooke for their reserves team, which he featured in mostly, but he would only play a handful of first team matches scoring six times in 18 appearances from 1933 up until 1936.

November 1936 witnessed Rooke transfer down the road to South London opposition Fulham who were in the Second Division for a nifty fee of £300. After a rough patch at The Eagles he would end up The Cottagers top goalscorer for three consecutive seasons, netting every goal during Fulham’s 6-0 demolition of Bury, a feat no player at the club has surpassed since.

During his time with the Cottagers Rooke scored 57 times in 87 league encounters before The Second World War commenced in September 1939. Rooke’s playing days resumed despite interruptions to the normal football league calendar for six years. By being a PT in the RAF, Rooke was able to carry on turning out for Fulham where during this period he took part in 199 wartime matches racking up a gasping 212 goals. He also picked up a cap for England in 1942 versus Wales. In 1945 Rooke was a guest for Arsenal in a fixture against a visiting Dynamo Moscow on vacation.

After the war Rooke found the back of the net 13 times in a further 18 games for Fulham, before moving to Arsenal in 1946 who were lacking the aura they gave off the previous decade when they won five league titles and two FA Cups in the 1930s. Despite not having any top-flight football playing experience Rooke made an imminent impact upon arrival. At the end of the 1946/47 campaign he had scored 21 times in 24 matches.

A year later Rooke received the biggest surprise of his footballing career lifting the 1947/48 First Division title with Arsenal with 33 goals, since that season he’s held the postwar record for the most goals scored in a single campaign at the club. During the 1948/49 season he netted another 15 times for The Gunners as well as finding the back of the net in Arsenals 4-3 win over Manchester United for the 1948 FA Charity Shield.

After having run out for Arsenal on 94 occasions Rooke grabbed 70 goals in all tournaments.

All in all whilst at Crystal Palace, Fulham and Arsenal he scored 170 times in 256 matches in the Football League.

In 1949 Rooke departed Arsenal to reunite with old allies Crystal Palace in the position of player manager. His first campaign at The Eagles went fairly well guiding them to seventh in the Third Division South. However the next year commenced sombrely, in November 1950 he left for Bedford Town, after having added to his goal tally at Palace making it 32 in 63 games. Rooke started off as a player for Bedford Town before being chosen as player-manager in February 1951, a position he secured till 1953. During his time at the lesser known Eagles he secured 97 goals in 136 competitive matches.

Sooner rather than later he joined the bandwagon at Haywards Heath Town and Addleston before reigniting his love affair in 1959 with Bedford Town entering the field for the first two matches when the side was short for players. In September 1961 Rooke lost his position in the managerial hot seat after Hitchin Town defeated his side in early on in the FA Cup.

In 1985 after having later worked at Heathrow Airport and Whitbread Brewery his life came to an end in his beloved Bedford home aged 73.

Liam Harding

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