John Aston (3 September 1921 – 31 July 2003) 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 ...

. Like his son

John Aston Jr. John Aston Jr. (born 28 June 1947) is an English former professional association football, footballer who played in the Football League for Manchester United F.C., Manchester United, Luton Town F.C., Luton Town, Mansfield Town F.C., Mansfield T ...

, Prestwich-born Aston came through the

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 ...

youth system and turned professional in December 1939. His debut for the club came almost seven years later, on 18 September 1946, against Chelsea. Aston was a strong, tough-tackling

left-back 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 ...

who also played as a

centre forward In the sport of association football, a forward (attacker or striker) is an outfield position which primarily plays further up the pitch than midfielders and defenders. As with any attacking player, the role of the forward relies heavily on be ...

for his club on occasion. He won 17

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 ...

caps between 1948 and 1950, all at left-back, and featured in the

1950 FIFA World Cup The 1950 FIFA World Cup was the 4th edition of the FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international Association football, football championship for senior men's national teams. It was held in Brazil from 24 June to 16 July 1950. It was the first Wo ...

. He played in the

1948 FA Cup Final The 1948 FA Cup final was contested by Manchester United and Blackpool at Wembley Stadium on 24 April 1948. United, who had not appeared in an FA Cup Final for 39 years, won 4–2, with two goals from Jack Rowley and one apiece from Stan Pearso ...

triumph 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 ...

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium, currently branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE Limited, EE for sponsorship reasons, is an association football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Sta ...

. He was forced into retirement in 1954 after contracting

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

, having scored 30 goals in 284 appearances for Manchester United. Because of the tuberculosis, he had to have a lung removed; he was offered treatment in Switzerland or North Wales, and chose the latter due to its proximity to home and family. On 25th April 1956 a John Aston testimonial game was held against an all star x1 at Old Trafford. Aston returned to the club as youth team coach in the early 1960s and was then chief scout under new manager

Wilf McGuinness Wilfred McGuinness (born 25 October 1937) is an English former football player and manager, who played for Manchester United and twice for England in his short playing career. McGuinness succeeded Sir Matt Busby as manager of Manchester United ...

in 1969, and had a three-year spell in the position before being sacked along with McGuinness's successor,

Frank O'Farrell Francis O'Farrell (9 October 1927 – 6 March 2022) was an Irish football player and manager. He played as a wing half for Cork United, West Ham United and Preston North End. He made over 300 appearances in the Football League before joining W ...

in late 1972. Aston was also reserve team manager when McGuinness was manager, although McGuinness became reserve team manager again after he got sacked as manager in December 1970. Aston died in July 2003 at the age of 81.

Honours

Manchester United *

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 ...

: 1951–52 *

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 ...

1948 Events January * January 1 ** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. ** The current Constitutions of Constitution of Italy, Italy and of Constitution of New Jersey, New Jersey (both later subject to amendment) ...

References

External links

Manchester United profile
*
Obituary in The Times
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aston, John Sr. 1921 births Footballers from Prestwich English men's footballers England men's international footballers 1950 FIFA World Cup players Manchester United F.C. players English Football League players Men's association football fullbacks 2003 deaths English Football League representative players 20th-century English sportsmen