Ken Fish

Kenneth Henry Albert Fish (20 February 1914 – 4 August 2005) was a South African footballer who played for English club Port Vale and Swiss side Young Boys. He later served behind the scenes at Port Vale, Birmingham City, and Oxford United.

Ken Fish
Personal information
Full name Kenneth Henry Albert Fish[1]
Date of birth (1914-02-20)20 February 1914[1]
Place of birth Cape Town, South Africa[1]
Date of death 4 August 2005(2005-08-04) (aged 91)[2]
Place of death Stoke-on-Trent, England
Height 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Playing position(s) Forward
Youth career
Railway Association
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1937 Aston Villa
1937–1938 Port Vale 5 (1)
1938–1939 Young Boys
1939 Port Vale 0 (0)
National team
South Africa[2] 4
Teams managed
1951 Port Vale (caretaker)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Playing career

Fish played for Railway Association (in South Africa) before moving to England to play for Aston Villa.[1] He signed with Port Vale of the Third Division North for a sizeable fee in November 1937.[1] He scored his first goal in a 3–1 defeat to Carlisle United at Brunton Park on 20 November.[1] He played just six games (five in the Football League and one FA Cup) and was sold to Swiss side Young Boys in October 1938.[1] He returned to Vale as the assistant trainer in July 1939 and re-signed as a player the following month.[1]

World War II and post-war coaching career

World War II disrupted football in 1939 and as a result Fish enlisted in the Army in September 1939.[1] He served as a warrant officer and a remedial specialist.[2] He guested for Stafford Rangers during the war and after its conclusion was appointed as Port Vale's trainer in July 1946.[1] He was temporarily in control of team affairs in November and December 1951 after Ivor Powell's unsuccessful tenure, winning one game.[1][3]

In March 1958 he moved on to Birmingham City as trainer-coach, a position he later held at Oxford United.[1] Fish worked at Oxford United for more than twenty years. At the end of the 1986 League Cup Final at Wembley, in which Oxford beat QPR 3–0, the manager, Maurice Evans, insisted that Fish go up to the royal box to receive the medal that would usually have gone to the manager.[4]

Statistics

Source:[5]

Club Season Division League FA Cup Other Total
AppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Aston Villa1936–37Second Division00000000
Port Vale1937–38Third Division North51100061
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References
  1. Kent, Jeff (1996). Port Vale Personalities. Witan Books. p. 102. ISBN 0-9529152-0-0.
  2. Sherwin, Phil (2013). Men of Steele. Hanley, Staffordshire: Pass. p. 14. ISBN 978-0-9926579-1-8.
  3. "Cult Hero 48: Ken Fish". onevalefan.co.uk. 22 June 2015. Retrieved 1 June 2020.
  4. Struthers, Greg (11 January 2004). "SportsFile: Caught in Time: Oxford United win the League Cup, 1986". Times Online. Retrieved 7 May 2009.
  5. Ken Fish at the English National Football Archive (subscription required)
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