Full name Stanley Charlton Role Football player Name Stan Charlton | Years Team | |
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Date of birth (1929-06-28)28 June 1929 Date of death 20 December 2012(2012-12-20) (aged 83) Place of death Dorchester, Dorset, England Died December 20, 2012, Dorchester, Dorset, United Kingdom | ||
Place of birth Exeter, Devon, England | ||
Stanley Charlton (28 June 1929 – 20 December 2012) was an English football player and manager.
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He was born in Exeter, Devon, the son of Stanley Charlton, who played at full back for Exeter City and Crystal Palace during the 1920s and 1930s. Despite his surname, he was not related to the more famous footballers Bobby Charlton and Jack Charlton, who were two contemporaries of his.
Bromley and Leyton Orient
He started his career as an amateur with Bromley, where he won four caps for the England amateur team and was a member of the 1952 Olympic football tournament squad for the Great Britain team, although he did not play. He signed as a professional for Leyton Orient in 1952, and was a near ever-present for the next three seasons for Orient, as they finished runners-up in the Third Division in 1954–55. He was selected to play for the Third Division South team against the North in 1955–56.
Arsenal
In November 1955 Charlton joined Arsenal with Orient teammate Vic Groves for £30,000, and succeeded Len Wills as the club's first-choice right back. He made his debut on 24 December 1955 against Chelsea and remained in the same position for nearly all of the rest of the season; he was also an ever-present in 1956–57 and 1957–58, and played for the London XI in both legs of the semi-finals of the 1955–58 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup against Lausanne Sports.
Return to Orient
However, he was dropped by Arsenal after a 3–1 defeat to Burnley in September 1958, in favour of Wills, the man he had originally displaced. Having made only four appearances in the first half of 1958–59 for Arsenal, he moved back to Orient in December 1958; he made 110 appearances for Arsenal, scoring three goals (all of them in the FA Cup). At Orient, he remained at the side for the next seven seasons, skippering them to promotion to the First Division in 1962 and for their one and only season in the top flight, 1962–63.
Retirement and later life
Stan Charlton retired in summer 1965, having played 366 league matches for Orient over the two spells. He became manager of Weymouth and remained in that post for seven years. After that, he became a district manager for a local football pools company.
Although residing in Weymouth, despite the distance Stan remained very active with the O's and was very much involved with Leyton Orient Supporters' Club where he attended several end of season 'Star Man' awards evenings. He also attended other popular LOSC functions, such as the regular reunions of fellow O's players that played in the Leyton Orient side that won promotion to the 'Old' First Division for the first time in the club's history in 1963. He also took part in a presentation involving Leyton Orient's supporters' trust, the Leyton Orient Fans' Trust.
Stan Charlton died in the early hours of 20 December 2012 in Dorchester Hospital, aged 83.