Christopher Sebastian Buckley (9 November 1886 – 11 January 1973) was a

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 ...

in the early years of professional football in England, who played at

centre half In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

for a variety of clubs including

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club (commonly referred to as simply Villa) is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club, founded in 1874, compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The team have p ...

and

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 ...

, before later returning to Villa as director and chairman. He was the younger brother of Frank Buckley, who was also a player and manager of

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club ( ), commonly referred to as Wolves, is a professional association football, football club based in Wolverhampton, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league s ...

Biography

Born in

Urmston Urmston is a town in Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, which had a population of 41,731 at the 2021 Census. Historically in Lancashire, it is 5 miles (8.04672 km) southwest of Manchester city centre. The southern boundary is the River M ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

, Buckley studied at

Xaverian College Xaverian College is a Roman Catholic college located in Rusholme, Manchester, England, approximately south of the city centre. Established in 1862, it is recognised as being one of the most oversubscribed sixth form colleges in Greater Manches ...

in his native city and the Manchester Catholic Collegiate Institute. He went on to play for Victoria Park,

Manchester Ship Canal The Manchester Ship Canal is a inland waterway in the North West England, North West of England linking Manchester to the Irish Sea. Starting at the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary at Eastham, Merseyside, Eastham, near Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, it ...

and

Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

Reserves before stepping up to the senior level with

Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club, commonly referred to as Brighton, is a professional football club based in Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. Their home gr ...

of the Southern League in 1905. A year later he joined

and played 20 league games in his first season, before breaking his ankle in a game against

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 ...

on the opening day of the 1907-08 season, which kept him out of the game for over a year. He continued to play for Villa after coming back from injury, winning a

First Division 1st Division or First Division may refer to: Military Airborne divisions *1st Parachute Division (Germany) *1st Airborne Division (United Kingdom) * 1st Airmobile Division (Ukraine) * 1st Guards Airborne Division Armoured divisions *1st Armoure ...

title in 1909-10 and made nearly 150 league appearances for Aston Villa in six seasons. He had a trial for

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

in 1911 but was never capped. In 1914 he moved south to join

of the Second Division, and played in the last season before competitive football's suspension due to

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. Aged 31 when football resumed in 1919, he still played for another two seasons before breaking a leg in 1920-21 and losing his place to Alex Graham. In total he played 59 games for the club, scoring three goals. After retiring, Buckley later returned to Villa, joining the club's

board of directors A board of directors is a governing body that supervises the activities of a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government agency. The powers, duties, and responsibilities of a board of directors are determined by government regulatio ...

in 1936, and serving as chairman from 1955 to 1966. He stepped down as a director in 1967 and died in 1973, aged 86.

References

Buckley's Bio
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Buckley, Chria 1886 births 1973 deaths Footballers from Urmston English men's footballers Aston Villa F.C. players Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. players Arsenal F.C. players Aston Villa F.C. directors and chairmen Southern Football League players English Football League players English Football League representative players Men's association football central defenders English football chairmen and investors 20th-century English businesspeople