Charles William Reed (21 March 1912 – 28 July 1964), known as Chick Access individual season statistics via Season Stats dropdown menu. or Charlie Reed, 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 ...

who scored 55 goals from 187 appearances in

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, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

playing as a forward or

left half A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

for

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games a ...

, Lincoln City,

Southport Southport is a seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. At the 2001 census, it had a population of 90,336, making it the eleventh most populous settlement in North West England. Southport lies on the Iris ...

, Chesterfield,

Mansfield Town Mansfield Town Football Club is a professional football club based in the town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Stags', they play in a blue and y ...

and

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nottingham, England. The team participate in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Founded on the 25 November 1862, it is the ...

Football career

Reed was born in

Holbeach Holbeach is a market town and civil parish in the South Holland District in Lincolnshire, England. The town lies from Spalding; from Boston; from King's Lynn; from Peterborough; and by road from Lincoln. It is on the junction of ...

, Lincolnshire, and played local football in the Lincolnshire area before a successful trial led to his signing for

. He made his debut in the 1931–32 season, and scored his first goal on 19 September 1931 as Sheffield United beat

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the We ...

3–1 in the

Football League First Division The Football League First Division was a division of the Football League in England from 1888 until 2004. It was the top division in the English football league system from the season 1888–89 until 1991–92, a century in which the First D ...

. After two seasons with Sheffield United, during which he played only twice in the League, Reed moved to Lincoln City, newly promoted to the Second Division. He played in only a third of Lincoln's games in his first season, and around a half in the next, nevertheless finishing as the club's leading scorer for 1933–34, though with only seven goals as the club were relegated to the

Third Division North The Third Division North of the Football League was a tier in the English football league system from 1921 to 1958. It ran in parallel with the Third Division South with clubs elected to the League or relegated from a higher division allocated to ...

. Reed appeared regularly in 1934–35, and scored 17 goals from only 25 games – only one goal behind Johnny Campbell's tally of 18, which had come from a full season's worth of matches – before leaving the club to join Third Division rivals

in February 1935. A highlight of the year Reed spent at Southport came against Hartlepools United in April 1935 when, after "picking up the ball in his own half, he ran 70 yards and shrugged off four challenges before smacking it into the net to score a memorable goal". Reed joined Chesterfield for a fee of £800, scored on debut in a 3–1 defeat of

Tranmere Rovers Tranmere Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. The team compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1884 as Belmont Football Club, they adop ...

, and helped the club to the championship of the Third Division North and consequent promotion. He played regularly in the Second Division until January 1937, when he played his last game for the club, the third-round FA Cup defeat to

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

, and returned to

non-League football Non-League football describes association football, football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is s ...

with Spalding United. He spent the 1937–38 season with

and the next season with

before dropping back into Lincolnshire local football with Pinchbeck and then with Crowland. Reed died at his home in

Spalding, Lincolnshire Spalding () is a market town on the River Welland in the South Holland district of Lincolnshire, England. The town had a population of 31,588 at the 2011 census. The town is the administrative centre of the South Holland District. The town i ...

, in 1964 at the age of 52.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Reed, Chick 1912 births 1964 deaths People from Holbeach English footballers Association football forwards Spalding United F.C. players Sheffield United F.C. players Lincoln City F.C. players Southport F.C. players Chesterfield F.C. players Mansfield Town F.C. players Notts County F.C. players English Football League players