Arthur Edward Catlin (11 January 1910 – 28 November 1990) was an English

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played his entire professional career for

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an off ...

. He was a strong tackling

left back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

who made 230 appearances (including cup games) for Wednesday between 1931 and 1939. He also played for the

England national football team The England national football team have represented England in international Association football, football since the first international match in 1872. It is controlled by the Football Association (FA), the governing body for football in Eng ...

on five occasions. Catlin never scored a goal in an official match in his -year career at Hillsborough although he did score in the wartime league game against

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football, football club in Nottingham, England, which competes in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of Football in England, English football, following promotion and relegation, promotion ...

in 1944 which Wednesday won 6–1.Sheffield Wednesday Archive.
Gives details of Catlin's career with Sheffield Wednesday.

Playing career

Catlin was born in

South Bank The South Bank is an entertainment and commercial area on the south bank of the River Thames, in the London Borough of Lambeth, central London, England. The South Bank is not formally defined, but is generally understood to be situated betwe ...

, a north eastern suburb of

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ), colloquially known as Boro, is a port town in the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Lying to the south of the River Tees, Middlesbrough forms part of the Teesside Built up area, built-up area and the Tees Va ...

and played youth football with Middlesbrough Schools and his local junior club South Bank F.C. before signing for Sheffield Wednesday. He made his debut for the Owls on 28 March 1931 in a 4–0 win over

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

, but that was his only appearance that season and it was some time before Catlin became a regular in the side being kept out by England international left back Ernie Blenkinsop. He played 16 games in the 1933–34 season then became Wednesday's regular left back when Blenkinsop was surprisingly transferred to

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

in April 1934. Many Wednesday supporters were angered by the sale of Blenkinsop, however Catlin proved to be a more than adequate replacement. In the 1934–35 season Catlin played in all six

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

ties as Wednesday lifted the cup and also finished third in the league. He was also a member of the Wednesday side which won the Charity Shield at the start of the following season. Catlin's good form led to five England caps in the 1936–37 season, starting against

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

on 17 October 1936 followed by matches against

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

and finally

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

on 17 May 1937. During that time he also played for the Football League representative side in 1936 and in an international trial for the Probables against the Possibles on 17 March 1937 at Burnley; fellow Wednesday player

Jackie Robinson Jack Roosevelt Robinson (January 31, 1919 – October 24, 1972) was an American professional baseball player who became the first Black American to play in Major League Baseball (MLB) in the modern era. Robinson broke the Baseball color line, ...

was playing for the Possibles.''"The Jackie Robinson Story"'' , Gives details of Probables v Possibles match in May 1937. Catlin lived in Wadsley Lane at

Wadsley Wadsley is a suburb of the City of Sheffield in South Yorkshire, England. It stands north-west of the city centre at an approximate grid reference of . At the 2011 Census the suburb fell within the Hillsborough ward of the City. Wadsley was f ...

during his time as a Wednesday player and was a close neighbour of

Roy Hattersley Roy Sydney George Hattersley, Baron Hattersley, (born 28 December 1932) is a British politician, author and journalist from Sheffield. A member of the Labour Party, he was MP for Birmingham Sparkbrook for over 32 years from 1964 to 1997, and ...

, Hattersley remembers Catlin in his autobiography, "A Yorkshire Boyhood", saying ''"Mr. Catlin, in his time the best left back in England, would sit on the wall at the end of his front garden, and I used to see him dangling his famous feet on the pavement almost every time I was taken to the Wisewood Co-Op."''''"A Yorkshire Boyhood"'', Roy Hattersley, Page 16, Gives this quote on Catlin. Sheffield Wednesday were relegated to Division Two at the end of the 1936–37 season, despite talk of a possible transfer he stayed with Wednesday. However he lost his England place to

Eddie Hapgood Edris Albert "Eddie" Hapgood (24 September 1908 – 20 April 1973) was an English association football, footballer, who captained both Arsenal F.C., Arsenal and England national football team, England during the 1930s. Playing career Hapgood wa ...

and never played for the national side again. Catlin had a lucky escape just before Christmas 1938 when the car he was travelling in along with fellow player Bill Fallon skidded in snow at

Wadsley Bridge Wadsley Bridge is a suburb of Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, northwest of the city centre. The area is a mixture of residential housing and small industrial and commercial premises. The suburb falls within the Hillsborough ward of the Cit ...

and hit a telegraph pole. Both players went to hospital and were out of the team for several weeks.''"One Hundred Years at Hillsborough"'', Jason Dickinson, , page 94, Gives details of motor accident. Catlin played his last game for Wednesday and last official career game in a 0–1 home defeat to

Plymouth Argyle Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. The team currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. The club has played ...

on 2 September 1939, the day that Britain declared war on Germany. Wednesday held his registration throughout the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, meaning he was on their books for 14 years. He played 96 games for Wednesday during the war appearing in the 1943 (North) War Cup Final which Wednesday lost to Blackpool over two legs. It was in the second leg of this final that Catlin was badly injured in a collision with Blackpool's Jock Dodds, an injury which effectively ended his career although he did play on for two more years."''The Men Who Made Sheffield Wednesday Football Club''", Tony Matthews, , Page 50 Gives more biographical information and on injury that ended career.

After football

After the war Catlin returned to Sheffield and became chief scout for Sheffield Wednesday for a time. He then became a

pub A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the late 17th century, to differentiate private ho ...

landlord, running four pubs in the area, "The Anvil" at

Malin Bridge Malin Bridge is a suburb of the city of Sheffield, England. It is located at grid reference and stands miles north-west of the city centre where the rivers River Loxley, Loxley and River Rivelin, Rivelin meet. Malin Bridge is only a small di ...

, the "Rose and Crown" at

, the "Kelvin Grove" at Upperthorpe and "The Magnet" in the Southey area of Sheffield."''Sheffield Public Houses''", Michael Liversidge, Gives information on pubs that Catlin ran. He also ran a boarding house in Blackpool for a time. Ted Catlin died aged 80 on 28 November 1990. In May 2006 Ted's 1935 FA Cup winners medal came up for sale at

Sotheby's Sotheby's ( ) is a British-founded multinational corporation with headquarters in New York City. It is one of the world's largest brokers of fine art, fine and decorative art, jewellery, and collectibles. It has 80 locations in 40 countries, an ...

in London and sold for £3,600, also in the same sale was Catlin's first England cap which sold for £1,100.Evening Gazette.
Gives details of auction of Catlin's FA Cup winners medal.

Honours

;

winner:

1935 Events January * January 7 – Italian premier Benito Mussolini and French Foreign Minister Pierre Laval conclude an agreement, in which each power agrees not to oppose the other's colonial claims. * January 12 – Amelia Earhart ...

* Charity Shield winner 1935

References

External links

*
England profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Catlin, Ted Sheffield Wednesday F.C. players English men's footballers England men's international footballers Men's association football fullbacks 1910 births 1990 deaths English Football League players English Football League representative players Sheffield Wednesday F.C. non-playing staff People from South Bank, Redcar and Cleveland Footballers from North Yorkshire 20th-century English sportsmen