Campaign launched for grave for early 1900s Doncaster Rovers hero

Len Goodson, who scored the first ever goal for Doncaster Rovers in the Football League, is buried in an unmarked plot at Doncaster’s Hyde Park Cemetery – but was one of the club’s leading lights at the turn of the century.

Now organisers want to raise £4,000 to pay for a headstone and proper resting place for Len so his place in the city’s history can be marked.

A spokesman for Friends of Hyde Park Cemetery, the group which helps maintain and preserve the Victorian burial ground, said: “Can you help us to remember a Doncaster Rovers Football Club hero?

“Len Goodson was a Doncaster Rovers star in the early 1900s.

“When the team joined the Football League in the 1901-02 season, Len scored their first ever goals in that league.

"His sale to Middlesborough for a substantial sum helped to pay for a new stand at the team’s Intake Ground."

Outside of football, Len worked as a labourer. He did not marry and died aged only 41 in 1922.

Born in Doncaster in 1880, he played as an inside left and left wing, playing for the Marshgate Institute club before moving to Doncaster Rovers in March 1900.

His first goals were a hat-trick in a 1−8 victory in a Midland League game at Rushden on 31 March 1900.

In the 1900−01 season, he scored 20 goals in 26 league games, including two hat−tricks. His team were runners−up in the Midland League and were subsequently elected to the Football League for the 1901−02 season.

Goodson scored the first two goals in a 3−3 draw in their first Football League fixture, at home to Burslem Port Vale.

After a spell at Middlesbrough, he returned to Doncaster for the 1905−06 season in the Midland League after they failed to be re-elected to the Football League following a poor season.

From there he moved back to Marshgate but was called back to Doncaster in February 1909, scoring twice in that month. This coincided with an upturn in the club’s season's fortunes, with only one loss in their last 13 games.

In his total time at Doncaster in all three periods, he scored 39 goals in the Midland and Football Leagues, and 4 in the FA Cup.

Since his death, he has laid in an unmarked family grave in Hyde Park.

The spokesman added: “We want to mark his grave and we need to raise £4,000 to make this a reality. Can you help?

“We know times are very tough right now, but any donation, no matter how small, is welcome and gratefully received.

To find out more and make a donation, please visit http://www.fohpc.org.uk/goodson/

“We are also keen to hear from living family members of Len, so we can get them involved in this project. If you are related to Len, please do get in touch,” the spokesman added.

Anyone with information can e-mail [email protected]