Vivian Gibbins

William Vivian Talbot Gibbins (born August 10 1901 in Forest Gate, London, died November 21 1979 in Herne Bay, Kent) was an English amateur footballer who played as a striker.

Viv joined West Ham United in 1923 and made his debut on December 26 1923 against Aston Villa, creating the only goal of the game for Billy Moore. He didn't decide to begin playing permanently for the club until the 1927-28 season. He became the first unpaid West Ham player to top the club's scoring charts in 1930-31, with 18 league goals.

Gibbins also played for Clapton, and won the FA Amateur Cup with the club in 1924 and 1925. Whilst registered with Clapton, he made two England appearances, both against France, scoring twice in a 3-1 victory on 17 May 1924 and once on 21 May 1925. Gibbins went off injured after 35 minutes of the latter game; Freddie Fox also went off after 75 minutes and England finished with nine men, but managed to hang on to win the game 3-2. cite web|url=http://www.englandstats.com/matchreport.php?mid=146|title=Match report on Englandstats.com|author=www.englandstats.com|accessdate=2007-06-21] Gibbins worked as a schoolmaster and was one of the last amateur footballers to feature for England.

He transferred to Brentford on February 19 1932, but left at the end of the season. He had spells at Bristol Rovers and Southampton before joining Leyton, where he was a losing FA Amateur Cup finalist in 1934.

1934 saw Gibbins join Catford Wanderers, where he played until his retirement in 1939.

He became headmaster of Harold Road school in West Ham, retiring in the early 1970s, but continued to keep his interest in the game alive by watching local schools football and making the occasional visit to Upton Park.

References

*cite book |last=Hogg |first=Tony |title=Who's Who of West Ham United |year=2005 |publisher=Profile Sports Media| id= ISBN 1 903135 50 8 |pages=88-89
* [http://www.lalamy.demon.co.uk/whulist.htm West Ham Player List]

External links

*Englandstats|id=392|name=Vivian Gibbins