Goldberg: Leslie (Les) (aka Les Gaunt)

1934-1947 (Player Details) (Leeds United War-time Guest Player Details)

Right Back

Born: Leeds: 03-01-1918

Debut v Sunderland (h): 04-12-1937

5’9” 11st (1946)

Goldberg is one of the few players to change his name, from Goldberg to Gaunt, by deed poll. He trained at Elland Road and won two England Schoolboy caps before joining the Leeds ground-staff in 1934, turning professional in May of the following year. He broke into the side playing two games just before Christmas 1937, another in April 1938, and, after the departure of Bert Sproston before the start of the 1938-39 season, he looked to be the natural successor. However, it was Jack Milburn, who reverted to Right Back, with Ken Gadsby coming in at Left Back, that seemed to be the favoured combination. Nevertheless, after playing just two games in the early part of the season at Right Back he re-established himself with another fourteen games in the second half of the season as Jack Milburn gave way. He was at Right Back in two of the three games in the aborted 1939-40 season and he seemed set for a regular spot when the Second World War saw the Football League suspended with Goldberg having made twenty-one League appearances. During the war he guested for Arsenal, Aldershot, Brentford and Reading and also played a few games for United, Thirty in the War-time League and three in the War-time Cup, and saw service in India and then was stationed near Reading, in the role of Sergeant Instructor. He had played for Leeds in the opening game of the 1939-40 Regional League North-Eastern Division in the 3-0 home victory over Bradford City and was the United Right Back in each of the first ten fixtures, but, after taking his total for the season to twelve and playing in all three War Cup games, he only played intermittently for the next few seasons, due to War Service, and even though he played seven of the last eight games in the 1945-46 Football League Northern Section he had only managed eleven games in the meantime. He guested for Aldershot, playing one game in each of the 1940-41 and 1941-42 seasons, Arsenal, where he played twice, also in the 1941-42 season and Brentford where he played once in the 1945-46 season. It was Reading that benefited from his local posting and he played fourteen games in 1941-42, twenty in 1942-43, twenty-eight games in 1943-44 and nineteen in 1944-45. When the Football League recommenced, he returned to Elland Road and started in the first four games of the 1946-47 season, but, after playing a further eight games just before the New Year, he found that Jim Milburn and Eddie Bannister were the favoured pairing at Full Back with keen competition from Ken Gadsby. He left Leeds in March 1947 for Reading, where he changed his name to Gaunt in 1948. The name change did not bring him much luck as he lost his place through injury and then a broken leg at Norwich forced him to quit in 1950 after scoring once in seventy-one League appearances and scoring one goal in seven F.A. Cup ties for Reading. He then managed Metropolitan League team Newbury Town. He later ran a menswear business and scouted for Reading and Oxford United. He returned to Reading in 1969 as an administrative and technical assistant to Jack Mansell.