Early years and West Ham United

Puddefoot was born in Limehouse in the East End of London. He was a pupil at Park School in West Ham and played junior football with Condor Athletic and Limehouse Town before being spotted by West Ham United in a London Juniors match against Surrey Juniors. He initially joined the Hammers as an amateur but signed on as a professional before the start of the 1913–14 season.^[3] Under the tutelage of coach and future manager Charlie Paynter, he quickly developed into a formidable force and scored 28 goals in 55 Southern League appearances for the club. He broke the club record for most individual goals scored in an FA Cup match, landing five (including a hat-trick in seven minutes) in an 8–1 mauling of Chesterfield in a first-round game on 10 January 1914. The record remains to this day and is also West Ham's biggest victory in the competition.^[2][4]

Wartime

Puddefoot worked at a munitions factory for most of World War I and was not called up for service until late on in the conflict. He made 126 appearances in the wartime London Combination and scored nearly 100 goals, including seven against Crystal Palace in April 1918 (a record for the competition).^[3] On 8 September 1917, he played against QPR in their first game at Loftus Road, scoring a hat-trick.^[5][6]

During his service, he was stationed at Bridge of Allan in Stirlingshire and guested for Falkirk during his time in Scotland.^[7]

After the war and Falkirk

After the end of the war, Puddefoot played in the newly enlarged Football League Division Two for the 1919–20 season.^[8] He scored 21 goals for West Ham that season, and was selected to play for England in three Victory International games (he scored in all three).^[9] He then scored 29 goals in the 1920–21 season and 14 in 1921–22.^[10]

When will this folly on the part of football clubs come to an end?
— The Football Post, on Puddefoot's transfer to Falkirk.^[7]

Puddefoot's exploits made him much sought after and Falkirk, who had witnessed the player first-hand, won the battle for his transfer on 7 February 1922. The fee of £5,000 was a world football transfer record, and represented the only time a Scottish team has broken the record. So eager were the Falkirk supporters to land their man that they themselves set up a public fund to raise money for the purchase.^[11][12][13] Puddefoot himself earned a £390 fee for agreeing the transfer.^[14] His younger brother Len followed him to Falkirk at the start of the following season for a month's trial, but only made a single appearance.^{[7][nb 2]}

The record would last less than a month, however, as Warney Cresswell was transferred from South Shields to Sunderland for £5,500 on 3 March 1922.^[15]

Puddefoot spent three seasons at Brockville Park, scoring 45 goals in 113 league appearances.^[16][14]

Blackburn Rovers

Puddefoot joined Blackburn Rovers on 3 February 1925 for £4,000,^[7][16] making his debut at Arsenal on 7 February 1925.^[3] He won the FA Cup with Blackburn in 1928. He set up the opening goal in the first minute of the match when he shoulder-charged Billy Mercer, the goalkeeper of opponents Huddersfield Town, with Jack Roscamp following-up to score.^[17]

In 1929, Puddefoot was among the first to take advantage of the new FA rule that allowed for personal hearings for disciplinary matters, after his sending off against Bolton Wanderers.^[18]

He left Blackburn, having scored 87 goals in 267 appearances in all competitions.^[3]

Return to West Ham United

On 26 February 1932, ten years after leaving his boyhood club, and at the age of 37, Syd returned to east London to help with the ultimately doomed effort to avoid relegation in the 1931–32 season. He made seven appearances that season without return, and managed three goals in 15 appearances the following season. He played his 192nd and final game for West Ham on 6 March 1933, scoring the last of his 107 goals for the club.^[3]