Charles Ambler

Charles James Ambler (1868–1952) was an English footballer who played as a goalkeeper.

Born in Alverstoke, Hampshire, Ambler began his career at Bostall Rovers before signing with Royal Arsenal (soon after renamed Woolwich Arsenal) in 1891. As an amateur he was able to play for a variety of clubs with no fixed tenure at any of them; in the period 1891–94, as well as playing in friendlies for Arsenal, he also played for Clapton, Dartford and Luton Town while nominally being registered an Arsenal player.

In the summer of 1894 he was formally transferred to Tottenham Hotspur, but returned to Woolwich Arsenal in November 1895. There, he played in goal in a Second Division match against Newton Heath on 30 November 1895, a match Arsenal lost 5-1. With no other league appearances to his name, he left Arsenal in the summer of 1896 and returned to Tottenham Hotspur.

Ambler was registered with Spurs from 1896 until 1900; in total, in both his spells at Tottenham, he made 133 first team appearances. He had spells at Gravesend and New Brompton before, in 1901, he joined east London club West Ham United. Used as a reserve, he played just two first team games for the club in November 1901. The first came as a result of a clash of fixtures, with the Irons due to play a Southern League game against Spurs on the same day as hosting Leyton in the FA Cup. The club chose to field its regulars for the league game and play away for the cup; the first team lost 1-0 while the second side, with Ambler in goal, won by the same scoreline. Thus, Ambler got his chance in the following Southern League game, against Queens Park Rangers, but with the game ending in a 2-1 defeat, this was to be his only appearance in the league.

He went on to play for Millwall after leaving the Irons in 1902. He died in 1952, aged 83