Charles Howlett (September 1864 – 17 August 1906) 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 for

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The club competes in the Championship, the second tier of English football. They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history ...

as a

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

The Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in the world, and was the top-level football league in England from ...

, with whom he made over 100 competitive appearances. Born in

Glanford Glanford was, from 1974 to 1996, a local government district with borough status in the non-metropolitan county of Humberside, England. Creation The district was created on 1 April 1974 as part of a general reform of local government in Engla ...

he also had two spells at

Gainsborough Trinity Gainsborough Trinity Football Club is a Association football, football club based in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, England. Established in 1873, the club became members of the English Football League, Football League i ...

Playing career

Howlett started his career in

Gainsborough Gainsborough or Gainsboro may refer to: Places * Gainsborough, Ipswich, Suffolk, England ** Gainsborough Ward, Ipswich * Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, a town in England ** Gainsborough (UK Parliament constituency) * Gainsborough, Saskatchewan, Ca ...

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (), abbreviated ''Lincs'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands and Yorkshire and the Humber regions of England. It is bordered by the East Riding of Yorkshire across the Humber estuary to th ...

but was living in

Grenoside Grenoside is a suburb of Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The suburb falls within the West Ecclesfield ward of the city. History The name Grenoside is derived from the language of the Anglo-Saxons. The name Grenoside, which was first ...

near

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...

when

placed adverts in the local press announcing the formation of the club and asking for players. Responding to the appeal he was selected as the side's first goalkeeper and remained with the club for five seasons. He appeared in the club's first ever game against Notts Rangers and in their debut

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 ...

campaign which saw both the team's biggest ever victory and heaviest ever defeat in the competition, a 13–0 defeat at the hands of

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club ( ) is a professional association football, football club based in Horwich, Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the Englis ...

. Howlett had poor eyesight and needed to wear glasses during games and as a consequence tried to avoid being charged by opposition players, often punching away shots instead of catching them, including shots along the ground. During the FA Cup game against Bolton it was reported that he had spent most of the game searching for his glasses in the muddy goalmouth. Despite this Howlett remained first choice keeper for the club's first three seasons but shared goalkeeping duties with Will Lilley for the following two. Following his departure from

Bramall Lane Bramall Lane is a association football, football stadium in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which is the home of Sheffield United F.C., Sheffield United. The stadium was originally a cricket ground, built on a road named after the Bramall ...

Howlett returned to his previous club

where he played for another nine seasons before retiring.

Honours

Football League Division Two The Football League Second Division was the second level division in the English football league system between 1892 and 1992. Following the foundation of the FA Premier League, the Football League divisions were renumbered and the third tier ...

**Runner-up: 1892–93

Personal life

After retiring from playing Howlett settled in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

before returning to live in

following the death of his wife.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Howlett, Charlie 1864 births 1906 deaths People from Brigg Men's association football goalkeepers English men's footballers English Football League players Gainsborough Trinity F.C. players Sheffield United F.C. players Midland Football League players Northern Football League players