Percy Saunders

Percival Kitchener Saunders (9 July 1916 – 2–3 March 1942) was an English professional footballer who played in the Football League for Sunderland and Brentford as an inside forward.[1][3]

Percy Saunders
Personal information
Full name Percival Kitchener Saunders[1]
Date of birth 9 July 1916
Place of birth Newhaven, England
Date of death 2–3 March 1942 (aged 25)[2]
Place of death SS Rooseboom, Indian Ocean
Position(s) Inside forward
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
0000–1936 Newhaven
1936–1939 Sunderland 20 (6)
1939 Brentford 0 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Personal life

Saunders was a sergeant in the 18th Divisional Workshops, Royal Army Ordnance Corps, during the Second World War.[2] He served in the Far East and in late February 1942, shortly before the Japanese occupation of the Dutch East Indies, he was evacuated from Emmahaven on the SS Rooseboom.[4] The ship was headed for Bombay when it was torpedoed in the Indian Ocean on the night of 2–3 March 1942.[4] Saunders was killed and his name is listed on the Kranji War Memorial.[2] Saunders was the only former member of the Brentford and Sunderland squads to lose his life during the war.[4] In December 2014, Saunders and other Sunderland players who lost their lives during the two world wars were commemorated with a statue outside the Stadium of Light.[5]

Career statistics
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League FA Cup Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Sunderland 1937–38[6] First Division 15 6 0 0 — 15 6
1938–39[7] 5 0 0 0 1[lower-alpha 1] 1 6 1
Career total 20 6 0 0 1 1 21 7
  1. Appearance in Durham Senior Cup

See also

References
  1. Haynes, Graham; Coumbe, Frank (2006). Timeless Bees: Brentford F.C. Who's Who 1920–2006. Harefield: Yore Publications. p. 141. ISBN 978-0955294914.
  2. "Casualty Details". Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Retrieved 16 June 2015.
  3. White, Eric, ed. (1989). 100 Years Of Brentford. Brentford FC. p. 375. ISBN 0951526200.
  4. McGarraghy, Paul (18 August 2019). "Football Noir Issue #7 – Percy Saunders". Over The Bar. Retrieved 17 September 2019.
  5. "Memorial unveiled at SoL – SAFC". safc.com. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 16 June 2015.
  6. "1937–38 : Football League Division 1". Sunderland AFC – Statistics, History and Records – from TheStatCat. Retrieved 14 January 2017.
  7. "1938–39 : Football League Division 1". Sunderland AFC – Statistics, History and Records – from TheStatCat. Retrieved 14 January 2017.
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