Charles Radford (19 March 1900 – 14 July 1924) 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 as a full-back, having been converted from centre-forward early in his career. Born in

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall, in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located ...

, he played for

and

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

. He died in a motorcycle accident in 1924.

Career

Radford began his career as a schoolboy playing as a centre-forward, and was twice capped for the England Schoolboys team in 1914. He began his senior career with

in the Birmingham & District League before signing for

in May 1920. However, he was unable to break into either the first team or the reserves as a forward, so he was tried out at right-back for much of the 1920–21

Central League The or , also known as the for sponsorship reasons, is one of the two professional baseball leagues that constitute Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan. The winner of the league championship plays against the winner of the Pacific League i ...

season.Dykes (1994), p. 312. With the reserves having won the Central League title that year, Radford was given his first-team debut in the final game of the

1920–21 Football League The 1920– 21 season was the 29th season of The Football League. The Football League Third Division was introduced, in effect the Third Division South of the following season, when Third Division North was introduced. This expanded the Leag ...

season – a 3–0 win at home to Derby County on 7 May 1921. Radford became Manchester United's regular right-back for the 1921–22 season, playing in 26 of their 42 league matches; however, he was unable to prevent them from finishing bottom of the First Division with the worst defensive record in the division. The following season, he missed just eight league matches, and scored his first goal for Manchester United in a 2–1 home win over

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside town in Lancashire, England. It is located on the Irish Sea coast of the Fylde peninsula, approximately north of Liverpool and west of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. It is the main settlement in the Borough of Blackpool ...

on 7 April 1923. He missed a further 12 matches in 1923–24, including the last eight games of the season, which he missed due to suspension, having been sent off in a match against

Nelson Nelson may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Nelson'' (1918 film), a historical film directed by Maurice Elvey * ''Nelson'' (1926 film), a historical film directed by Walter Summers * ''Nelson'' (opera), an opera by Lennox Berkeley to a lib ...

in March 1924.McCartney (2013), p. 346. He never played for Manchester United again as he was killed in a motorcycle accident in Wolverhampton in July 1924. His last game for the club came in a 1–1 draw away to Hull City on 22 March 1924.

References

;General * * * ;Specific

External links

Profile
at StretfordEnd.co.uk {{DEFAULTSORT:Radford, Charlie 1900 births Footballers from Walsall 1924 deaths Motorcycle road incident deaths English men's footballers Walsall F.C. players Manchester United F.C. players Road incident deaths in England Men's association football defenders 20th-century English sportsmen