Ronnie Burgess was plucked from the mining community of Cwm, in Ebbw Vale, to play for mighty Tottenham Hotspur in London. He joined Spurs from local team Cwm Villa and won a first-team place in the last full season before the war, playing 17 Division 2 games. He served in the RAF during WW2, when he became a regular member of the Welsh team in wartime internationals. No caps were given for those matches, but he went on to played 32 times for his country in eight post-war seasons. His first full cap came against England in Manchester in November, 1946, and his last was against Austria in Vienna in May, 1954.
He made 296 league appearances for Spurs and captained them to the Division 2 title in 1949-50 and the League Championship crown in 1950-51. Playing under him were Bill Nicholson, who went on to manage Spurs for many years and Alf Ramsey. He was nominated for the Footballer of the Year title in 1952, which was won by Billy Wright.
A dynamic and adventurous left-half, Burgess also captained Wales and played for the Great Britain team against the Rest of Europe in 1947. In 1954 he joined Swansea Town and played through to 1956. He was also the cub manager between 1955 to 1958. He moved on to Watford from 1959 to 1963, steering the club to its first promotion in his first full season in charge, and nearly managed a second successive promotion the following year. After pating company with Watford he switched to Hendon, steering them to win the Isthmian League and FA Amateur Cup double in 1964–65.
He coached at Fulham and acted as caretaker manager for Wales on one occasion in 1965 when team manager Dave Bowen was unavailable. He had spells managing Bedford Town and Harrow Borough, before becoming a scout at Luton Town.
William Arthur Ronald Burgess (Footballer) Born in Ebbw Vale on 9 April, 1917; Died in Swansea on 14 February, 2005
