IN SOUTHALL'S 150-year history, a large number of players have gone on to play for professional clubs and some have represented their country.
Notable former Southall players include Les Ferdinand MBE (QPR, Tottenham, Newcastle and England), Alan Devonshire (West Ham and England), Gordon Hill (Manchester United and Millwall), Justin Fashanu (Norwich), Eric Young (Brighton, Wimbledon, Crystal Palace and Wales), Mark Nicholls (Chelsea), Graham Wilkins (Chelsea and Brentford), Rowan Vine (Portsmouth, Birmingham and QPR), Colin Viljoen (Ipswich, Manchester City, Chelsea and England), former Bradford and Wigan manager Chris Hutchings (who played for Chelsea, Brighton and Huddersfield) and the current Leyton Orient head coach Ross Embleton.
Les Ferdinand was part of Gordon Bartlett's
1985-86 Southall team that reached the FA Vase final
Arthur Shaw played 61 times as a wing half for Arsenal during a seven year period with the Gunners, including 25 league appearances during Arsenal's 1952-53 Division One title winning season. A flag bearing his name flies in tribute on the Ken Friar Bridge, close to Arsenal tube station.
Fred Rouse was a prolific goalscorer who made more than 100 appearances as a centre forward for Wycombe, Grimsby, Stoke, Everton, Chelsea, West Bromwich Albion and Brentford. He represented the Football League XI in matches versus an Irish League XI in 1905 and 1906, scoring once in a 6–0 victory in the second match.
Gerry Cakebread OBE made 374 appearances for Brentford as a goalkeeper. He set a club record of 187 consecutive appearances for Brentford between November 1958 and August 1962, and played for England Youth and England Under 23s. He remained a part-time player throughout his career. He was posthumously inducted into the Brentford Hall of Fame in 2015, and was described as "arguably Brentford's finest ever goalkeeper".
Other former Southall players include:
Charles Ballard – Played for Southall before emigrating to New Zealand in March 1913. After The Great War he represented New Zealand in two matches against Australia. His older brother Tommy 'Brancher' Ballard was a Southall stalwart, who was killed on the Western Front in October 1918. His last match at Western Road was for 3/8th Middlesex Regt., against Southall.
Cliff Ette – Joined Southall after playing for West Ham, where he had made one appearance and scored one goal. He captained Southall in their 3-1 win against Swindon in the 1935-36 FA Cup First Round, and an 8-0 Second Round win against Newport (IOW) saw Southall into the Third Round Proper for the first time in the club's history.
Frederick Chapman – Played for Nottingham Forest prior to joining Southall and was part of the Great Britain team that won Gold at the 1908 London Olympics.
Ted Bennett – Played for QPR and Watford, was an England amateur goalkeeper and represented Great Britain at the 1952 Olympics in Helsinki.
Frederick Gamble – Represented Brentford, West Ham, Aldershot and Reading and played first class cricket for Surrey between 1933 and 1935.
Charles 'Wag' Roach – Scored 57 goals in one season for Southall, which remains a club record. Also played for Fulham, Reading, Middlesex and Tottenham's reserves. Known as Wag on account of his love of telling jokes.
Alan Nelmes – Made more than 300 appearances for Brentford as a defender and was inducted into the club's Hall of Fame in 2014.
Albert Thain – Made 153 appearances for Chelsea, scoring 51 goals.
Cyrus Vanterpool – Has made five appearances as an international for Anguilla.
Maxi Priest and Marvin Elliott / Marvin Priest – Reggae singer Maxi Priest and his son Marvin have both played for Southall. Marvin was known by his given name, Marvin Elliott, during his Southall playing days.
Many former Southall players played for other London clubs. More than one in four on the former players list below have also played for Brentford, with Griffin Park (Brentford's home until August 2020) located less than five miles from Southall.
A large number of the players on the former Southall players list below have represented at least one of the following London clubs: QPR, Chelsea, Wimbledon, Crystal Palace, West Ham, Millwall, Fulham, Tottenham, Arsenal and Leyton Orient.
The following list is taken from the Southall FC Wikipedia page and includes former Southall players who have represented professional clubs, represented their country, or enjoyed success in other professions.
Bold in brackets indicates: International honours / managed a professional team / achieved success in another profession
Herbert Ashford (Brentford, QPR)
Andrew Anderson (St Mirren, Newcastle, Leicester)
H.S. 'Berty' Austin (Mardy AFC)
Charles Ballard (New Zealand)
Cristian Barrett (England C)
Ted Bennett (QPR, Watford, Great Britain, England amateur international)
David Bitsindou (Kemi City)
John 'Jack' Bowman (QPR and Norwich player and manager)
David Byrne (Millwall, Watford, Partick Thistle)
Gerry Cakebread (Brentford)
Jimmy Carr (West Ham, Reading, Southampton)
Brian Caterer (Brentford)
Sid Chandler (Aston Villa, Preston, Reading)
Frederick Chapman (Nottingham Forest, Great Britain)
John 'Jack' Chapman (Brentford)
S. Chapman (Clapton Orient)
Dennis Cutbush (England amateur international)
Alan Devonshire (West Ham, England)
Marvin Elliott / Marvin Priest (singer, son of Maxi Priest)
Ross Embleton (current Leyton Orient head coach)
Cliff Ette (West Ham)
Justin Fashanu (Norwich, Nottingham Forest)
Les Ferdinand (QPR, Newcastle, Tottenham, England)
Dickie Foss (Chelsea)
Robert Fry (Crystal Palace, QPR)
Frederick Gamble (Brentford, West Ham, Reading)
T. Gale (Luton Town)
Mick Gilchrist (Luton Town, Bangor City)
Bert Gower (Brentford)
Alfred Hawkins (Crystal Palace)
Leslie Heard (Fulham)
Mick Heath (Brentford, Wimbledon)
Gordon Hill (Millwall, Manchester United, Derby, QPR)
Myles Hippolyte (Livingston, Falkirk, Yeovil)
Robert Holland (Crewe)
Chris Hutchings (Chelsea, Brighton and Huddersfield Town player and Bradford City and Wigan Athletic manager)
Clifford Jones (Wales amateur international)
Roger Joseph (Brentford, Wimbledon, Leyton Orient)
Ray Knowles (Wimbledon)
Goma Lambu (Mansfield Town)
Percy Leahy (Wales amateur international)
W. F. Lewis (Wales amateur international)
Ralph McElhaney (Celtic, Tottenham, Brentford)
Charles McKinley (Charlton, Brentford)
Frank Morrad (Leyton Orient, Brighton, Brentford)
Robert Morris (Norwich)
Pat Morrissey (Coventry, Crewe, Watford)
Alan Nelmes (Brentford)
Mark Nicholls ((Chelsea)
John Payne (West Ham, Brentford, Manchester City, Brighton, Millwall)
Ron Peplow (Brentford)
Sean Priddle (Exeter City, Brentford)
Maxi Priest (reggae singer)
Charles 'Wag' Roach (Fulham, Reading)
Albert Rogers (QPR)
Fred Rouse (Everton, Chelsea)
Fred Ryecraft (Brentford)
J. Sangster (QPR)
Arthur Shaw (QPR, Brentford, Arsenal, Watford)
Gary Smith (Wimbledon)
Ron Smith (Keflavik, Perth Glory and Australia interim manager)
Albert Thain (Chelsea)
Sam Turner (Stockport)
Cyrus Vanterpool (Anguilla)
Colin Viljoen (Ipswich Town, Manchester City, Chelsea, England)
Rowan Vine (Portsmouth, QPR)
George Weeks (Brentford)
Denis Weidlich (Hansa Rostock)
Graham Wilkins (Chelsea)
George Willis (Reading)
George Willshaw (Southend, Bristol City, Leyton Orient)
Eric Young (Brighton, Wimbledon, Crystal Palace, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Wales)
For more information about the club's history, visit the Southall FC Wikipedia page