Biography
Six foot tall forward Bill Charlton was a rarity even in the Football League of the 1930s – a gentleman amateur player. An educated man as well as a talented footballer, Charlton was working for Britsih Oil and Cake Mills in Hull in 1934 and 1935, signed amateur terms for the Tigers and made three appearances in late November and early December 1934, scoring his first goal in a 1-1 draw at home to Barnsley. He missed the festive period but returned for his fourth and final appearance against Newcastle United in the FA Cup Third Round, scoring the consolation goal in a 1-5 drubbing. He left City in the summer of 1935.
Charlton was born at South Stoneham, a village between Southampton and Eastleigh on the banks of the River Itchen. He attended grammar school in Winchester and went to St Edmunds Hall at Oxford University, studying Chemistry. He played for the University football team and in 1931 scored the winning goal in the annual varsity football match between Oxford University and their rivals from Cambridge. On graduation he entered the world of work, which took him to various locations in England – to Southampton, where he made two league appearances in 1932, to Hull in 1934 and later to London where he played for Wimbledon and Queens Park Rangers. It was at Loftus Road that he made the most league starts and signed professional terms for a season, hitting ten goals in 20 appearances including a hattrick against Cardiff City in February 1937. Throughout the 1930s he also was a regular player for the classic gentleman amateur football team Corinthians.
By 1939 he was lodging in Brighton while working in the petrochemicals industry. He served as a Lieutenant-Commander in the Royal Navy during World War Two. He remained in the south of England after the war, continuing to work in the petroleum industry in Reading until the 1960s. He later became a school headmaster while living in Barnes, before retired to Epsom in Surrey where he died in February 1998.
Charlton won four international caps for the England Amateur team in 1936 and 1937, scoring a hattrick against Ireland on his debut in February 1936 and adding three more goals to his tally in a 7-3 thrashing of the Wales Amateur XI two weeks later. Although eligible and in the England Amateur squads in the build-up to the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, Charlton was not available for that tournament.
Details
Nationality: England
Date/Place of Birth: 4 June 1912, South Stoneham
Hull City First Game: 17 November 1934, Manchester United H (Division Two), 22 years, 166 days old
Hull City Final Game: 12 January 1935, Newcastle United H (FA Cup Third Round), 22 years, 222 days old
Clubs
Southampton (1931-32), Corinthians (1932-1936), Hull City (1934-1935), Wimbledon (1935-1936), Queens Park Rangers (1936-1938), Leyton (1938), Barnet (1938), Fulham (1939)
Hull City Record
Career: 4 apps, 2 goals
Bill Charlton| Season | LGE App | LGE Gls | FAC App | FAC Gls | FLC App | FLC Gls | EUR App | EUR Gls | OTH App | OTH Gls |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1934/35 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - |