Allenby C. Chilton (16 September 1918 – 15 June 1996) 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, rugb ...

Playing career

Chilton started his career with Seaham Colliery before joining

Liverpool Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...

as an amateur in the summer of 1938, but he never played a senior game for the

Anfield Anfield is a football stadium in Anfield, Liverpool, Merseyside, England, which has a seating capacity of 53,394, making it the seventh largest football stadium in England. It has been the home of Liverpool F.C. since their formation in 1892 ...

club. Chilton transferred to

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The ...

soon after in November 1938 and made his first team debut against

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, south-east London, which compete in . Their home ground is The Valley, where the club have played since 1919. They have also played at The Mount in ...

in September 1939. Chilton's early career was cut short by the Second World War although he made guest appearances for

Airdrieonians Airdrieonians Football Club is a Scottish professional football team in Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, who are members of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) and play in Scottish League One. They were formed in 2002 as Airdrie United ...

Cardiff City Cardiff City Football Club ( cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Dinas Caerdydd) is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1899 as R ...

Hartlepools United Hartlepool United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Hartlepool, County Durham, England. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. They were founded in 1908 as H ...

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the ...

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East En ...

and

who he helped to win the War Cup South Final in 1944. He served in the Durham Light Infantry and saw active service in the

Normandy Landings The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as ...

also in 1944. Chilton established himself as a centre half in

Matt Busby Sir Alexander Matthew Busby (26 May 1909 – 20 January 1994) was a Scottish football player and manager, who managed Manchester United between 1945 and 1969 and again for the second half of the 1970–71 season. He was the first manager of an ...

's first post-war team and helped United to triumph in the 1947–48 FA Cup and was a key member of the 1951–52 league championship winning team. He was made club captain during the 1953–54 season. Having missed just 13 games in nine seasons at United and with 175 consecutive appearances to his name, Chilton requested a rest from first team action in early 1955. He was replaced by Mark Jones, one of the rising

Busby Babes The "Busby Babes" were the group of footballers, recruited and trained by Manchester United F.C. chief scout Joe Armstrong and assistant manager Jimmy Murphy, who progressed from the club's youth team into the first team under the management of ...

, and never returned to first team action.

Management career

Grimsby Town

He left the club in March 1955 to become player-manager with

Grimsby Town Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that in the 2022–23 season will compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system, following the victory in t ...

. He joined the Mariners late in the 1954–55 season and was unable to stop them having to apply for re-election, but the following season under his management they were champions of Division Three North – the only club ever to go from re-election to promotion in one season.

Wigan Athletic

Chilton continued as manager at Grimsby Town until April 1959 when he joined

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club () is an English professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, ...

as manager for one season during 1960–61.

Hartlepools United

Chilton joined Hartlepools United as a scout for the 1961–62 season and became manager during 1962–63.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chilton, Allenby 1918 births 1996 deaths English footballers Liverpool F.C. players Manchester United F.C. players Hartlepool United F.C. wartime guest players Middlesbrough F.C. wartime guest players Newcastle United F.C. wartime guest players Charlton Athletic F.C. wartime guest players Grimsby Town F.C. players English football managers England international footballers Grimsby Town F.C. managers Wigan Athletic F.C. managers Hartlepool United F.C. managers 1954 FIFA World Cup players English Football League players Footballers from Sunderland Durham Light Infantry soldiers British Army personnel of World War II Airdrieonians F.C. (1878) wartime guest players Cardiff City F.C. wartime guest players Association football central defenders FA Cup Final players