Charles George Strutton (17 April 1989 – 21 February 2024) was an English professional

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 striker. Strutton died on 21 February 2024, at the age of 34.

Career

Non–League career

Strutton came through the youth system of Chalfont St Peter and was moved up to the first team squad at the age of 17 in 2006, where he remained until 2012. Strutton proved to be a prolific goal scorer for the club, scoring 14 league goals in 29 appearances in 2007–08. The following season, he improved his tally, scoring 25 goals in 32 appearances for "The Saints" during the 2008–09 season. Strutton scored 42 league goals in 64 appearances between 2010 and 2012.

AFC Wimbledon

On 2 March 2012, it was announced that Strutton had signed a short–term contract with

AFC Wimbledon AFC Wimbledon is an English professional association football club based in Wimbledon, London, Wimbledon, London Borough of Merton, London. The team competes in , the third tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in ...

. The striker was immediately loaned out to

Maidenhead United Maidenhead United Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in Maidenhead, Berkshire, England. Affiliated to the Berks & Bucks FA, they are currently members of the . The club were established in October 1870 and have played at ...

on the same day. He scored his only goal of the loan spell against

Woking Woking ( ) is a town and borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in north-west Surrey, England, around from central London. It appears in Domesday Book as ''Wochinges'', and its name probably derives from that of a Anglo-Saxon settleme ...

in a 2–0 win for "The Magpies" on 3 March 2012 before suffering an ankle injury which prevented him playing for the rest of the season. After remaining on trial with AFC Wimbledon for the duration of the pre–season, he was rewarded with a permanent move to "The Dons" on 13 August 2012. Strutton made his football league debut for "The Dons" on 18 September 2012 as a second-half substitute for Warren Cummings in a 1–0 defeat to

Torquay United Torquay United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Torquay, Devon, England. The team currently compete in the National League South, the sixth level of the English football league system. They have played their ho ...

. Strutton scored his first goal for "The Dons" on 3 November 2012 in the First Round of the

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 ...

, earning a 1–1 draw and a replay with

York City York City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of York, North Yorkshire, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system, as of the 2024–25 seas ...

. He also proved indispensable to "The Dons" in the reply at

Kingsmeadow Kingsmeadow is a football stadium in Norbiton, Kingston upon Thames, London, which is used for home matches by Chelsea Women and Chelsea Development Squad. It was formerly the home of Kingstonian and AFC Wimbledon and has a capacity of 4,85 ...

, scoring two of the four goals in a victory which allowed AFC Wimbledon to progress to the Second Round of the FA Cup. The 24-year–old striker signed a new two–year contract with AFC Wimbledon on 20 May 2013. He failed to get much game time for ''The Dons'' in the opening stage of the season and soon found himself loaned out to

Conference National The National League, officially known as Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in England. The National League is the first division of the National League (English football), National Le ...

side Braintree Town on an initial one-month loan deal. He scored his first goal on 28 September 2013 in a 3–1 win over

Alfreton Town Alfreton Town Football Club is a football club based in Alfreton, Derbyshire, England. The club are currently members of and play at North Street. History The club was formed in 1959 following the merger of Alfreton Miners Welfare and Alf ...

. Strutton scored twice in a 3–0 win over Hyde on 5 October 2013. After scoring 20 goals in 18 games for Braintree, Strutton returned to the ''Dons'' shortly before joining

Aldershot Town Aldershot Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Aldershot, Hampshire, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. The club was founded in the spr ...

on a one-month emergency loan deal on 22 November 2013. However, Strutton suffered a fractured fibula and a slight displacement of the ankle joint during his Aldershot debut against

Southport Southport is a seaside resort, seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. It lies on the West Lancashire Coastal Plain, West Lancashire coastal plain and the east coast of the Irish Sea, approximately north of ...

. He returned from loan immediately, with Wimbledon physio Stuart Douglas stating that it would be wrong to predict a timeframe for his return. Then he signed for Braintree Town and had loans spells at

, Hayes & Yeading United and Slough Town. Strutton joined Maidenhead permanently in summer 2016, but made only one appearance and returned to Chalfont on loan.

Honours

Chalfont St Peter *

Spartan South Midlands League The Spartan South Midlands Football League is an English football league covering Hertfordshire, northwest Greater London, central Buckinghamshire and southern Bedfordshire. It is a feeder to the Southern Football League or the Isthmian League, ...

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Strutton, Charlie 1989 births 2024 deaths Footballers from the London Borough of Brent English men's footballers Men's association football forwards English Football League players National League (English football) players Southern Football League players Chalfont St Peter A.F.C. players AFC Wimbledon players Maidenhead United F.C. players Aldershot Town F.C. players Braintree Town F.C. players Hayes & Yeading United F.C. players Slough Town F.C. players 21st-century English sportsmen