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Octopus of Odstock

Oldest Living football league players

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On what is realistically the last search I'll do in 2019 a whole swathe of deaths found:

 

Stan Carr Death: 26/04/1994 Edmonton Edmonton Alberta Canada            
Dougald Campbell
               
Birth
 
                 
14/12/1922 Kirkintilloch Scotland              
Death
 
                 
09/04/1996                  
Ernie Whittam: Death: 16/03/2012 Rotherham Yorkshire England            
Name
Alan John Moxley Short
             
Birth
Sep-28
               
Death
2000
               
Name
Mr Dennis Trevor Winterbottom
           
Birth
23/10/1928
               
Death
01/10/2002
               
Residence
Glossop Derbyshire England
             
Donald Simon Colombo                
Birth: 26/10/1928 Poplar Blackwall London England            
Death: 28/09/2017 Healesville Victoria Australia            
Residence: 1977 Chelsea Victoria Australia              
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Another 10 off the list (all of those that were dubious if they were alive anyway), with the 2nd oldest player on the list now definitely gone. Sammy Nelson has only just gone, just shy of his 95th birthday. Poor old Frank Wood, far from being 95, died in his very early 50's.

 

Joe McCormack 15/07/1916 Scunthorpe, Boston, Rochdale, Bolton 1981
Ron  James 16/03/1922 Birmingham, Wolves, Northampton 2017
David Reid 03/01/1923 Crewe, Workington, Bradford PA, Rochdale, Glasgow Perthshire 16/02/1988
James Clarke 07/12/1923 Nottingham Forest, Darlaston 12/12/2014
Sammy Nelson 26/05/1924 Blackpool, Luton, Linfield Swifts 15/04/2019
Frank Wood 17/08/1924 Bury, Exeter, Shrewsbury 1976
Fred Martin 14/04/1925 Accrington, Blackburn 2017
Ernie Woodcock 14/05/1925 Bury, Oldham 2018
Albert Wright 21/07/1925 Lincoln, Ollerton Colliery 2008
Billy Dale 26/10/1925 Crewe, Accrington, Southport, Halifax 26/11/2011
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Never played in the football league but Manchester United count their oldest living player as 98 year old Jack White - 

 

Apparently played a couple of games for them during the War.

 

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Found that oldest "not confirmed alive" player Fred Kilshaw is indeed NOT alive. Died 15th June 1989.

Fred Kilshaw 24/08/1916

New Brighton, Leicester

     

 

 

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Latest confirmation of the alive or not confirms NOT:

 

George Wallace 18/04/1920 Scunthorpe
Ron Rothwell 10/07/1920 Rochdale, Dunfermline
Tommy Sinclair 13/10/1921 Bradford, brentford, Aldershot
Charlie McClelland 08/01/1924

Exeter, Blackburn, Hyde Utd

 

 

Wallace died in 2002, Sinclair in 2015. McClelland died in 1977, aged just 53. Poor old Ron Rothwell, far from almost being 100, died aged just 45 on the 25th Feb 1966. 

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On 29/09/2019 at 11:23, Octopus of Odstock said:


CANNOT CONFIRM IF ALIVE OR NOT:

Reg Pugh 28/07/1917


Cardiff


 
       


Died in 1981.

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On 16/11/2019 at 17:13, ebless said:

 

This leaves Doug Holden as this game's last surviving player. 

 

 

A worthy DL Cup pick, then - for those who see action in April

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Good morning my name is Michael Featherstone I work with Barry Hugman  on Hugman's footballers and all of his football books.

I have done a detailed search for footballers born pre 1931

John Lavery is alive I believe I spoke to him around 40 years ago his wife died in 2005

in Bradford. he is on 192.com living with his son Nigel

find my past /ancestry only have 55% of births/deaths after 2007, to check all you need to go to Westminster archives 

it is easy to miss births but i'm convinced Lavery is the footballer

Jim Smith Leyton Orient was alive in 2012 because their historian Neil Kaufman spoke to Jim Smith's sister in Bolton

I have checked the microfiches from 2011 to 2018 but cannot find his entry but I say he might be alive as there are 1000's of Smith's

Graham Bailey is 100 today. I say this because he lives in Truro and is the 2020 Electoral roll

He had 2 sons in Yorkshire The sons married in Falmouth where one of his son's played for Falmouth town

his wife died in 1985.he remarried in 1987 after moving to Truro and had 2 children .one born in 1991

that marriage broke up and he married Jan Davies in 1997 and lives with her and her children

in addition Reginald Aspinall born 3rd June 1921 is alive and lives with his wife in Walsall

William D reid's wife died in Canada in 1980 but I cannot find his death

Can you provide  a place and date of death for Stan Carr as I cannot find it

 

Michael Featherstone

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Hi Michael, 

Thanks for this, at the post at the very top of this page, you'll see Stan Carr's death details. 

 

I'd be very grateful if the Hugman website was updated with some of the information we've found and when I can I'll update the master lists. 

 

PS For Hugmans website - Iain Maidment of Reading FC died in 2019 as per gov.uk website. 

 

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Hi thanks for the info on Carr and Maidment.the Hugman website is going offline but will be replaced.

I will tell Barry Hugman to put on the additional information to the new site.

I am always looking for information on the players

I have written to two relatives of Dewis Brown but without reply.he left the Rotherham area but I

Dont know where he went ?

 

Michael 

 

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4 hours ago, michaelf said:

Hi thanks for the info on Carr and Maidment.the Hugman website is going offline but will be replaced.

I will tell Barry Hugman to put on the additional information to the new site.

I am always looking for information on the players

I have written to two relatives of Dewis Brown but without reply.he left the Rotherham area but I

Dont know where he went ?

 

Michael 

 


Hi Michael,

 

Welcome! OoO seems to be the best authority here on this topic but I’m happy to help in any way I can too. 
 

Do you have a cut off year for when you know Dewis Brown was definitely still alive?

 

His birth record in the GRO matches the date on Hugman’s but he’s listed as “William Dewiss Brown” (note the double ‘s’). Not sure if this is of any use. I can’t find a death record in England and Wales up to 2019.

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Hi  There is no record after he left Rotherham in 1951.he had 2 sons and a wife Norah. He grew up in Thurcroft

but I contacted the club there without luck.

He definitely moved away .There are lots of relatives but I was unable to contact them

His father and nephew were both called Dewis

 

Michael

 

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Alex Forsyth can be removed off the probably living list. 

 

 

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Just gone through the 1929 births to see if I can find anything:

 

George Price was alive in 2017 and living in a care home - https://www.winsfordguardian.co.uk/news/15561666.care-home-residents-make-memory-tree-improve-wellbeing/ 

Can't see any GRO Indexes for George dying in Crewe since so I will presume he is still alive.

 

Roy Martin was alive and living in Largs, Ayrshire as of 2011, whilst Geoff Hill, ex Carlisle United, moved to Canada in the 1960's. But nothing more on either since then.

 

However, there is one passing - Ted McNeill, ex-Sunderland and Doncaster, died in 1979 - https://www.independent.ie/regionals/argus/lifestyle/sporting-headlines-from-over-the-years-that-made-the-sports-pages-26933220.html

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30 minutes ago, Octopus of Odstock said:

 

Roy Martin was alive and living in Largs, Ayrshire as of 2011, whilst Geoff Hill, ex Carlisle United, moved to Canada in the 1960's. But nothing more on either since then.

 


Using his real name of Robert Martin, I had a look through the Scottish records. Nobody of that name born in 1929 has died anywhere near Largs since 2011 so it's almost certain he is still alive.

If you have any queries about other Scottish players, throw them my way as I have paid access to Scotland's People.

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13 hours ago, Ulitzer95 said:


 I have paid access to Scotland's People.

 

Useful site, no? The 2019 names will either be up now or going up soon too.

 

If other countries had a central online database like this it would solve so many research issues...

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20 hours ago, Ulitzer95 said:


Using his real name of Robert Martin, I had a look through the Scottish records. Nobody of that name born in 1929 has died anywhere near Largs since 2011 so it's almost certain he is still alive.

If you have any queries about other Scottish players, throw them my way as I have paid access to Scotland's People.

 

Does it give dates of birth or only years? There's a John McBride on there that might be the 1923 one, who died c. 2000, but I can't see much more info than the year. If it does give dates of birth, a lot of these "maybe alive" are Scots.

 

Going through the 1928 names tonight.

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Alan Layton is another in Canada - https://www.barrowafc.net/viewtopic.php?t=17951 - had a stroke some years ago. Can't see anything specific to say he's passed since 2012.

 

John Oglivie was definitely alive and well in 2016 - http://www.hibernianfc.co.uk/news/6467 I would've thought Leicester would've posted something about an ex-player and fan. He seems to be well remembered at Hibs and Leicester so I would say he's alive.

 

Chris Conway looks like he moved to Canada. There's a blog post about him (search for Canadian National Soccer) but it's a protected blog which is frustrating so I can't see if it has any relevant details. 

https://thecnsl.com/2020/01/14/great-players-chris-conway/

 - if anybody has a Wordpress account and can get permission that will be brilliant.

 

Peter Langman died last year - https://www.pasoti.co.uk/talk/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=109490 and https://funeral-notices.co.uk/South+West-Devon-Derriford/death-notices/notice/langman/4770237 

 

Bill Murphy is still alive, living in Australia - http://grecianarchive.exeter.ac.uk/items/show/1293

 

Edward Cunningham died in 2011 - http://hugmansfootballers.com/club/153/180

 

 

 

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2 hours ago, Octopus of Odstock said:

 

Does it give dates of birth or only years? There's a John McBride on there that might be the 1923 one, who died c. 2000, but I can't see much more info than the year. If it does give dates of birth, a lot of these "maybe alive" are Scots.

 

Going through the 1928 names tonight.


Ah okay, we must have the same level of access then.

I can only see years, ages, names and place of death. There are 3-4 John McBrides in there that could match that but because his death was so recent you'd have to order all the certificates which would be costly and isn't practical. I see they're not even offering certificates right now... may be due to the coronavirus situation.

Again you're maybe aware, but if you want to try and bypass paying for certificates, in some cases you can by copying the info over into Ancestry, which has quite a lot of the Scottish records on public view.

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1927 guys:

 

Jimmy Scott died earlier this year - https://workingtonafc.com/2020/03/10/fifties-star-passes-away/?fbclid=IwAR25kqDt2sz1ZaKTD3n1kwlLwjP_ZoHZtEgyJZTA_crjFaadgtZn8HAZBpg

 

Sid Watson was alive in 2017 - https://www.runwoodhomes.co.uk/shopimages/articles/DAWN 21 web pdf document.pdf - and considering he played nearly 300 games for Mansfield, I think they would've mentioned if he died.

 

 

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1926 guys:

 

Eric Downes died 2017, Dennis Thomas in 2008 and Ray Howells as long ago as 1968 (dying aged just 42) (source Barry Hugman's footballers)

 

Les Onslow passed away just a couple of weeks ago -  https://www.swindonadvertiser.co.uk/announcements/deaths/deaths/18365505.Les_Onslow/

He was in good health for his 90th birthday but judging by the obituary might've had dementia in his last years.

 

Joe Lancaster was alive in 2016. https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p04d0n2d

 

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Of the 1925 players, I thought Eryk Kubicki would be long dead but possibly not - http://www.ruchchorzow.com.pl/aktualnosci/7590/niebieskie-ikony-41/

Now it doesn't say he's still alive but at least there's actually some history behind him, rather than being just a random Army bloke who played briefly for York City.

 

Other than that, nothing else to add I'm afraid.

 

1924 and earlier, I'll give a whirl tomorrow.

 

 

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