Richard Peter Tudor Sillett (1 February 1933 – 13 March 1998) 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 ...

. He played for

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

and

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

as a

right-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

, and made three appearances for

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. He was the older brother of

John Sillett John Charles Sillett (20 July 1936 – 30 November 2021) was an English football player and manager. He played for Chelsea, Coventry City and Plymouth Argyle. He won the Championship with Chelsea in 1955, playing alongside his brother Peter ...

, who managed

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Coventry, West Midlands, England. The team currently compete in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. The club is nicknamed t ...

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

success in 1987.

Sir Stanley Matthews Sir Stanley Matthews, CBE (1 February 1915 – 23 February 2000) was an English footballer who played as an outside right. Often regarded as one of the greatest players of the British game, he is the only player to have been knighted while stil ...

once said that Sillett was the best full-back he ever played against.

Southampton

Peter was the son of

Charlie Sillett Charles Thomas Sillett (29 October 1906 – 27 February 1945) was an English professional footballer who played as a full back for Southampton in the 1930s. He was the father of John Sillett and Peter Sillett, both of whom became professional f ...

(who was a full-back with Southampton from 1931 to 1938) and inherited his father's skills. He joined the Saints in January 1949 and soon afterwards gained England Youth recognition. Extremely well-built, weighing over 13 stone when only 18, Sillett matured quickly into a full-back of some distinction. Southampton were facing mounting debts and, with this fact known to many of the country's top clubs, Sillett, together with his younger brother

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Secon ...

, was "induced" to join

Ted Drake Edward Joseph Drake (16 August 1912 – 30 May 1995) was an English football player and manager. As a player, he first played for Southampton but made his name playing for Arsenal in the 1930s, winning two league titles and an FA Cup, as wel ...

's Chelsea, for a fee of £12,000. In his two seasons at The Dell, he made 65 appearances in all competitions and scored four goals.

England

Sillett was also an England international, winning three caps in 1955, and was in England's squad for the 1958 FIFA World Cup.

Later career

He moved to

Guildford City Guildford City Football Club (formerly Guildford United and AFC Guildford) is a football club based in Guildford, Surrey, England. The club was established in 1921, folded in 1974 and was reformed in 1996. Guildford City play in the . Histo ...

and then on to Ashford Town as player-manager. He managed both Ashford Town and Hastings United twice each and oversaw promotion during each spell.

Honours

Chelsea * First Division championship: 1954–55 * FA Charity Shield: 1955

References

* Player by Player – Peter Lovering – Guinness Publishing 1993 * Stamford Bridge Legends – David Lane – Legends Publishing 2003

External links

England career profile Chelsea profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sillett, Peter 1933 births 1998 deaths England international footballers England B international footballers England under-23 international footballers English footballers 1958 FIFA World Cup players Association football fullbacks Footballers from Southampton Southampton F.C. players Chelsea F.C. players Guildford City F.C. players Ashford United F.C. players Ashford United F.C. managers Hastings United F.C. (1948) managers Hastings United F.C. managers English Football League players London XI players English Football League representative players English football managers