Charles Kenneth Willingham (1 December 1912 – May 1975) 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 ...

, born in

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...

. As a school boy he captained the Yorkshire Schools' team and won the half-mile county running championship.

Football career

After playing for

Ecclesfield Ecclesfield is a village and civil parish in the City of Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, approximately 6 miles (9 km) north of Sheffield City Centre. Ecclesfield civil parish had a population of 32,073 at the 2011 Census. Ecclesfiel ...

, he joined

Worksop Town Worksop Town Football Club is an English football club based in Worksop, Nottinghamshire. The team play in the . They are nicknamed ''The Tigers'' and play their home games at Sandy Lane in Worksop. History Previous clubs The club claims it w ...

in 1928 at the age of 16. He became a member of Huddersfield's ground staff at

Leeds Road Leeds Road was a association football, football stadium in Huddersfield, England. It operated from its construction in 1908 until the Kirklees Stadium was opened nearby for the 1994–95 in English football, 1994–95 season. It was the home ...

in 1930, before signing professionally for

Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional association football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. They compete in , the third tier of English football league system, English football. Huddersfield Town we ...

in 1930, where he spent most of his playing career. Whilst there he played in the 1938 FA Cup final (which was the first

FA Cup Final The FA Cup Final is the last match in the FA Cup, Football Association Challenge Cup. It has regularly been one of the List of sports attendance figures, most attended domestic football events in the world, with an official attendance of 89,472 ...

to be transmitted live on British television) in which Huddersfield Town lost 1–0 to

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional association football club in Preston, Lancashire, England. They currently play in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English footbal ...

. He holds the record for the fastest ever goal scored by a Huddersfield Town player, against

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...

on 14 December 1935, putting the ball in the back of the net after just ten seconds, with his fourth touch of the ball. He is also in the top 100 Huddersfield Town players as voted for by the fans as their favourite players. He was capped twelve times 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 ...

, scoring on his debut against

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

in an 8–0 win. He also made six appearances for England during the war, as well as representing the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

on another six occasions. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, in which he worked in the steel industry in Sheffield, he signed for

where he made fourteen appearances. He later signed for

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The team compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league system. Leeds United have won the League Championship th ...

as a player-coach in 1947 before retiring a year later to become the landlord of the Hopewell Inn in

Hunslet Hunslet () is an inner-city area in south Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It is southeast of the Leeds city centre, city centre and has an industrial past. It is situated in the Hunslet and Riverside (ward), Hunslet and Riverside ward of Lee ...

. He briefly returned to the game in 1952, where he became coach at

Halifax Town FC Halifax Town is a professional association football club based in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England. They currently compete in the National League, the fifth level of English football league system. They replaced Halifax Town, who went i ...

International career details

Honours

;

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 ...

finalist –

1938 Events January * January 1 – state-owned enterprise, State-owned railway networks are created by merger, in France (SNCF) and the Netherlands (Nederlandse Spoorwegen – NS). * January 20 – King Farouk of Egypt marries Saf ...

References

External links

*
Profile on www.thefa.comSunderland career details
{{DEFAULTSORT:Willingham, Ken 1912 births 1975 deaths Footballers from Sheffield Men's association football wing halves English Football League players English men's footballers England men's international footballers England men's wartime international footballers Worksop Town F.C. players Huddersfield Town A.F.C. players Sunderland A.F.C. players Leeds United F.C. players English Football League representative players Ecclesfield F.C. players