| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | James Alfred Standen | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | (1935-05-30)30 May 1935 (age 90) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Edmonton, London, England | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)[citation needed] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position | Goalkeeper | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Youth career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1951–1953 | Rickmansworth Town | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1953–1960 | Arsenal | 35 | (0) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1960–1962 | Luton Town | 36 | (0) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1962–1968 | West Ham United | 178 | (0) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1968 | Detroit Cougars[1] | 12 | (0) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1968–1970 | Millwall | 8 | (0) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1970–1972 | Portsmouth | 13 | (0) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
James Alfred Standen (born 30 May 1935) is an English former professionalfootballer who played as agoalkeeper in theFootball League forArsenal,Luton Town,West Ham United,Millwall andPortsmouth. He won theFA Cup and theEuropean Cup Winners' Cup with West Ham. Standen was also a professionalcricketer forWorcestershire, where he won aCounty Championship.
Jim Standen started his footballing career at Rickmansworth, being discovered there by Leslie Compton who introduced him toArsenal, where he joined the club in 1953. His appearances at Arsenal were limited, first byNational Service and then by the presence ofWales internationalJack Kelsey. He finally made his debut for Arsenal againstBurnley on 7 December 1957. He then deputised for Kelsey when he was injured in the1958–59 season and upon Kelsey's return the two goalkeepers shared the spot during the1959–60 season. However, Kelsey regained the number one jersey outright at the start of1960–61 and Standen left Arsenal forLuton Town in October 1960. He made 38 appearances for Arsenal in all.[2][3]
At Luton, Standen was forced to understudy again, this time forEngland'sRon Baynham. Standen then joined east London clubWest Ham United as an emergency signing after their regular keeperLawrie Leslie suffered a broken leg in 1962. He became a big hit atUpton Park and went on to win the1963–64 FA Cup and the1964–65 European Cup Winners' Cup with the club. Altogether Standen made 179 league and 57 cup appearances for West Ham.[4]
After losing his place due to the arrival ofBobby Ferguson in 1967, Standen moved to theDetroit Cougars in the United States. He returned to England withMillwall for the1969–70 season, playing eight games for the south London club before signing a two-year contract withPortsmouth. After 13 games for Pompey, he retired from football.[4]
After his retirement, he owned a sports shop inCamberley,Surrey, before moving toCalifornia, where he was a goalkeeper coach atFresno State University for a time.[4]
As a cricketer, Standen was primarily a right-arm medium pace bowler. After previously playing for Chorleywood and in theMinor Counties Championship forHertfordshire, he joinedWorcestershire in 1959 and playedfirst-class cricket.[5] He won theCounty Championship with them in 1964, playing in 11 of the 28 games and heading the First Class bowling averages with 52 wickets at 14.42. The following season the county won the title again, but he played in only one match. In all he took 313first-class wickets between 1959 and 1970 at an average of 25.34.[6]