Ted Purdon
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Edward John Purdon | ||
| Date of birth | 1 March 1930 | ||
| Place of birth | Johannesburg, South Africa | ||
| Date of death | 29 April 2007 (aged 77) | ||
| Place of death | Toronto, Canada | ||
| Height | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) | ||
| Playing position | Inside forward, centre forward | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1948–1950 | Marist Brothers | ||
| 1950–1954 | Birmingham City | 64 | (27) |
| 1954–1957 | Sunderland | 90 | (39) |
| 1957–1958 | Workington | 33 | (9) |
| 1958–1959 | Barrow | 37 | (11) |
| 1959–1960 | Bath City | 6 | (3) |
| 1960 | Bristol Rovers | 4 | (0) |
| 1960–1961 | Wellington Town | ||
| 1961 | Toronto White Eagles | ||
| 1961—1963 | New York Ukrainians | ||
| 1963 | Toronto City | ||
| 1963 | Toronto Inter-Roma | ||
| 1964 | Toronto City | ||
| 1964–1965 | New York Ukrainians | ||
| 1965 | Toronto City | ||
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. |
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Edward John Purdon (1 March 1930 – 29 April 2007) was a South African professional footballer who played as a forward. He played for Birmingham City in the Second Division of the Football League and for Sunderland in the First Division.
Purdon was born in Johannesburg, South Africa. He came to England on tour with his South African club in 1950 at the age of 20, was watched by representatives of several clubs, and signed for Birmingham City. During his three seasons at the club he scored 30 goals in 70 games in all competitions and was the club's top scorer in 1953–54, despite playing only 23 games before his mid-season transfer to Sunderland. He was also a good cricketer, and was named once as twelfth man for Warwickshire. He moved to Sunderland, then known as the "Bank of England club" because of their high transfer spending, for a fee of £15,000.
Purdon made a spectacular start to his Sunderland career, scoring twice on debut against Cardiff City and following that up with a hat-trick (association football) against Arsenal at Highbury in his second game. The first goal of the three, scored after only ten seconds, was believed to be the fastest goal in Sunderland's history. Playing alongside the likes of Len Shackleton and Billy Bingham, he scored 42 goals in 96 games for the club over a three-year career. Purdon was a big man whose "physique allied to a total lack of fear made him a handful for any centre-half";West Bromwich Albion goalkeeper Norman Heath was in collision with him during a game and received spinal injuries so severe that he never played again.
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