Clarence George "Lal" Hilditch (2 June 1894 – 31 October 1977), also known as Clarrie Hilditch, 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 ...

, and one of only two men to have been simultaneously a player and the manager at Manchester United (the other being Ryan Giggs). Hilditch was born in

Hartford, Cheshire Hartford is a village and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. It lies at the intersection of the A559 road and the West Coast Main Line (between Liverpool and Crew ...

, and began his playing career with Hartford, before moving on to Cheshire League sides Witton Albion and

Altrincham Altrincham ( , locally ) is a market town in Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, south of the River Mersey. It is southwest of Manchester city centre, southwest of Sale and east of Warrington. At the 2011 Census, it had a population ...

. In January 1914 he joined Manchester United as an

outside left Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

, but soon changed to his favoured half back position. He featured three times during the 1913/14 season before establishing himself in the team the following term. Although he joined Manchester United during the First World War, he quickly established a name for himself as an astute halfback who was an incredibly clean tackler and read the game well. In the summer of 1920 he was selected by the Football Association to be part of the 20-man squad that travelled to South Africa for a 14 match tour. Hilditch featured in all three 'tests' against South Africa but it was the closest he came to international recognition. In October 1926, after John Chapman was suspended for unknown reasons, Hilditch took over the manager's job for the rest of the season in addition to his playing duties. A stalwart in the United team for over a decade, he played 322 league games scoring 7 league goals before retiring in 1932 without winning any medals with the club.

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at MUFCInfo.com 1894 births 1977 deaths People from Hartford, Cheshire English men's footballers Men's association football forwards Men's association football midfielders England men's wartime international footballers Altrincham F.C. players Manchester United F.C. players English football managers Manchester United F.C. managers Footballers from Cheshire Witton Albion F.C. players {{England-footy-midfielder-1900s-stub