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Octopus of Odstock

Oldest Living football league players

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Yep, link's in the above post.

 

Whilst clearing up a few things, I see Maurice Leather died in 2021 - https://www.football-addict.com/en/article/portsmouth-fc/we-are-deeply-saddened-to-learn-of-the-passing-of-former-pompey-goalkeeper-maurice-leather-aged-91/616c72344794fe0009999897?utm_campaign=rss 

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1 hour ago, Octopus of Odstock said:

Yep, link's in the above post.

 

Whilst clearing up a few things, I see Maurice Leather died in 2021 - https://www.football-addict.com/en/article/portsmouth-fc/we-are-deeply-saddened-to-learn-of-the-passing-of-former-pompey-goalkeeper-maurice-leather-aged-91/616c72344794fe0009999897?utm_campaign=rss 

Right I've check the probate records and there's only one Simpson mentioned who died December 2021 - a Geoffrey William Simpson who died 15 December 2021.

 

https://probatesearch.service.gov.uk/search-results

 

If I cross check with the no wills found, there's a Geoffrey William Simpson (simply "retired") died 15 December 2021 here, who was resident in Selby: https://www.thegazette.co.uk/notice/3996691

 

Not sure how the English system works, grant of probate on 1 March 2022, but a publication date on the Gazette of February 2022 and claims on the estate date of April 2022.

 

Might this be our body?

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54 minutes ago, YoungWillz said:

Right I've check the probate records and there's only one Simpson mentioned who died December 2021 - a Geoffrey William Simpson who died 15 December 2021.

 

https://probatesearch.service.gov.uk/search-results

 

If I cross check with the no wills found, there's a Geoffrey William Simpson (simply "retired") died 15 December 2021 here, who died in Selby: https://www.thegazette.co.uk/notice/3996691

 

Not sure how the English system works, grant of probate on 1 March 2022, but a publication date on the Gazette of February 2022 and claims on the estate date of April 2022.

 

Might this be our body?

Don't think so. I think GRO will tidy this up as the probate search doesn't have every death on there as I have found with other footballers or racers 

Depends when he died in December if he even makes GRO in 2021 or not...

 

That dead link about his birthday was from Wakefield so I do think it's a different chap.

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1 minute ago, Octopus of Odstock said:

Don't think so. I think GRO will tidy this up as the probate search doesn't have every death on there as I have found with other footballers or racers 

Depends when he died in December if he even makes GRO in 2021 or not...

 

That dead link about his birthday was from Wakefield so I do think it's a different chap.

Not beyond the bounds of possibility Wakefield hospital covers his residence at Selby? I don't know, it's all the Yorkshires. We need an Ulitzer type investigation on that date of birth. Or someone who can access an archived version of that birthday story.

 

What might be stretching it is that there is no notice of no will seeking claims and no grant of probate to date if he is not our guy. Not impossible mind you, but it would be surprising to me that there's nothing at all.

 

Of course, if he didn't die in December but another date, I can have another look, but the entries I found are the only ones to date that would fit with Hugmans.

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The thing is with the probate records is - correct me if I'm wrong - it depends on if it's a joint will or the type of will?

GRO has my Grandad dying in 2015, which I can use as a verifiable source.https://www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/certificates/indexes_search.asp#Results

 

But if I look on probate search only, he's not there at all. https://probatesearch.service.gov.uk/search-results it's only when my Grandma died a few years later, that the will was actioned.

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9 minutes ago, Octopus of Odstock said:

The thing is with the probate records is - correct me if I'm wrong - it depends on if it's a joint will or the type of will?

GRO has my Grandad dying in 2015, which I can use as a verifiable source.https://www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/certificates/indexes_search.asp#Results

 

But if I look on probate search only, he's not there at all. https://probatesearch.service.gov.uk/search-results it's only when my Grandma died a few years later, that the will was actioned.

No idea, completely different in Scotland. Horrid system by the sounds of it. Estates in Scotland always have to be declared, even if leaving everything to the spouse.

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4 hours ago, Ulitzer95 said:


You can’t confirm this. You literally just pulled that out of your backside.

I get what you are saying but there’s very little information these days on these men so I went there for the best source 

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On 25/10/2020 at 19:03, One shot Paddy said:

Bertie Wright turned 101 on Friday, still able attend games but not able to wear a mask properly.

 

FB_IMG_1603652058417.jpg

 

Bertie Wright has died, aged 102. Not sure if it's linked to the lack of proper mask-wearing....

 

https://twitter.com/Glentoran/status/1538176528709730304 

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Hi all

 

Had confirmation today from his brother, that Geoff Steiner (3 games for Watford in 1951/52) passed away in August 21 in the Netherlands.

 

Gary

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3 hours ago, gary1961 said:

Hi all

 

Had confirmation today from his brother, that Geoff Steiner (3 games for Watford in 1951/52) passed away in August 21 in the Netherlands.

 

Gary

 

Thanks Gary, sorry to hear this. Appreciate this as with Geoff living in the Netherlands, it wouldn't have got picked up in the GRO/wills

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Bob Gray, who was quite probably the second oldest living player behind Graham Bailey, died in April.

 

A legend for Gateshead, who at that time were a league team. Probably one of their few living league players. - https://www.facebook.com/gatesheadfc/posts/10158576388822344

or https://funeral-notices.co.uk/notice/gray/5033041

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By the way, although Eric Dale's football career was very short, with just one league appearance for Shrewsbury Town, this is why I listed him as alive.

 

https://wehavewayspod.com/eric-dale/

 

Nothing in GRO since and checking the birth index does give his given name as Eric.

 

 

But after digging deeper, I have found this comment on Facebook from 2020. So he's gone as well.

 

I had the pleasure of knowing Eric on & off for over 30yrs and I still see Gladys ( his widow) regularly.
What a lovely couple.
Both are a credit to our community and a real link to how our village life was...
God bless.
 
 
 
 
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I'll try to list here football players from other countries aside from the UK. All above the age of 90

 

Argentina

Julio Avila                         27 December 1927

 

Australia

Ron Lord                            25 July 1929

Billy Henderson                23 November 1929

Con Purser                        2 August 1931

 

Brazil

Mario Zagallo                   9 August 1931

 

Belgium

Maurice Willems             24 September 1929

Richard Orlans                 6 October 1931

 

Bulgaria

Lazar Kristov                    18 March 1925

 

Chile

Arturo Nourdin                 16 August 1927

Domingo Massaro          28 August 1927

Carlos Espinoza              21 April 1928

Manuel Munoz                 28 April 1928

Andres Prieto                   16 December 1928

Fernando Jara                 9 August 1930

 

China

Chia Boon Leong             1 January 1925         Singaporean by nationality and spends football career in Singapore but represented China in 1948 Olympics

 

Costa Rica

Alex Sanchez Cruz          20 July 1930

 

Egypt

Abdel Aziz Kabil               14 March 1927

 

France

Francois Remetter           8 August 1928

Dominique Collona          4 September 1928

Robert Mouynet               25 March 1930

 

Germany

Johannes Matzen           13 February 1925

Alfred Reinhardt              3 March 1928

Werner Otto                     4 January 1929             Represented Saarland

Gerhard Marotzke           30 September 1929

Willi Sippel                       20 March 1929      Represented Saarland

 

Greece

Georgios Darivas             12 March 1926

Ioannis Ioannou                  1931

 

Iceland

Bjarni Guðnason              3 September 1928

Hörður Felixson               25 October 1931

 

India

Samar Banerjee               30 January 1930

 

Indonesia

Tan Liong Houw              26 July 1930

 

Iran

Mohamed Bayati             5 May 1932

 

Italy

Arcadio Venturi                18 May 1929

Lorenzo Buffon                19 December 1929

Carlo Galli                          6 March 1931

 

Japan

Yukio Shinomura             25 January 1932

 

Luxembourg

Leon Letsch                       23 May 1927

 

Mexico

Antonio Carbajal               7 June 1929

Alfredo Torres                   31 May 1931

 

Netherlands

Kees Rijvers                      27 May 1926

Cor van der Gijp               1 August 1931

Kees Kuijs                         4 October 1931

 

Paraguay

Dario Jara                          27 January 1930

 

Portugal

Jose Pereira                      15 September 1931

 

Soviet Union

Nikita Simonyan               12 October 1926

 

Spain

Miguel Vela Tardio           8 May 1922/27

Juan Antonio Ortega       22 December 1922

Jose Prendes                   12 February 1930

Carmelo                             6 December 1930

Jose Vicente                     19 December 1931

Alberto Pla                        7 May 1932

 

Switzerland

Gilbert Fesselet                16 April 1928

Gilbert Rey                         30 August 1930

Francesco Chiesa             25 September 1931

Rolf Mägerli                       23 July 1932

 

Taiwan

Mok Chun Wah                 5 May 1929          Hong Kong by nationality and spends career in Hong Kong but represents Taiwan internationally

Law Pak                             1932/25 May 1933     Hong Kong by nationality and spends career in Hong Kong but represents Taiwan internationally.                                                                                     English sources listed his as born in 1933 while Chinese sources listed him as 1932.

 

Thailand

Nit Sriyabhaya                  1930

 

Turkey

Galip Haktanir                   1 August 1921

Burhan Sargun                  11 February 1929

Ersoy Sukru                        14 January 1931

Ayhan Hançer                    20 June 1931

 

Uruguay

Dagoberto Moll               22 July 1927

Jose Santamaria            31 July 1928

 

USA

Ron Coder                        14 September 1928

Lloyd Monsen                  7 May 1931

Jack Dunn                        12 September 1931

 

Venezuela

Douglas Vidal                   15 January 1928

 

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On 29/06/2022 at 14:13, whoismakoto said:

I'll try to list here football players from other countries aside from the UK. All above the age of 90

 

Argentina

Julio Avila                         27 December 1927

 

Uruguay

Dagoberto Moll               22 July 1927

Jose Santamaria            31 July 1928

 

 

 

Thanks for this. I have some questions though about whether you have found more information on a few people. This is not a criticism of why they're not on there, just a query, as I know your research is good.

 

You don't include Rafael Souto (born 1930) of Uruguay. I must admit, this Twitter post, talks about him in the past tense - https://mobile.twitter.com/cndefhistoria/status/1320038796126281729?lang=ar - rather than saying, happy 90th birthday.

 

Osvaldo Cruz - https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osvaldo_H%C3%A9ctor_Cruz - do you think he's dead?

 

You also don't mention Reino Borjesson - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reino_B%C3%B6rjesson - who was definitely alive in 2019. https://www.gp.se/livsstil/vm-hj%C3%A4lten-fyller-90-och-minns-sitt-st%C3%B6rsta-%C3%B6gonblick-1.12786870

 

 

 

 

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1 hour ago, Octopus of Odstock said:

 

You don't include Rafael Souto (born 1930) of Uruguay. I must admit, this Twitter post, talks about him in the past tense - https://mobile.twitter.com/cndefhistoria/status/1320038796126281729?lang=ar - rather than saying, happy 90th birthday.

 

I use an online telephone directory of Uruguay and Spain to check if the player is still alive if there are no news regarding about that player. Granted, it's not 100% accurate but there's a chance. I didn't see Rafael Souto in either of those directories so I couldn't be sure if he is still alive.

 

1 hour ago, Octopus of Odstock said:

 Osvaldo Cruz - https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osvaldo_H%C3%A9ctor_Cruz - do you think he's dead?

In the case for Argentina, their online directory is a mess. Unlike Uruguay and Spain where the person's name is listed in full name, Argentina does not. I saw there were 3 "Osvaldo H Cruz" listed and all live in Buenos Aires so I couldn't tell if one of them is the football player.

 

1 hour ago, Octopus of Odstock said:

You also don't mention Reino Borjesson - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reino_B%C3%B6rjesson - who was definitely alive in 2019. https://www.gp.se/livsstil/vm-hj%C3%A4lten-fyller-90-och-minns-sitt-st%C3%B6rsta-%C3%B6gonblick-1.12786870

Yeah I'm aware about Borjesson. There was an earlier post about 10 oldest Swedish football player so that's why I didn't bother listing Sweden's. 

On 20/12/2021 at 07:03, Predictor said:

Sorry for going a bit off-topic in this post, but I thought I'd share some information about the oldest living footballers in my country. I made sure to confirm in a reliable source that these people are indeed alive today.

 

Top 10 oldest living footballers

 

1. Hans Tvilling (15 July 1928): 93

2. Reino Börjesson (4 Feb 1929): 92

3. Sven Lindberg (30 Jan 1930): 91

4. Henry Thillberg (17 Aug 1930): 91

5. Charles Gustafsson (25 Dec 1932): 88

6. Lennart Backman (7 Feb 1934): 87

7. Lars-Erik Ahlberg (5 June 1934): 87

8. Gösta Lundell (14 Oct 1934): 87

9. Kurt Hamrin (10 Nov 1934): 87

10. Lennart Svensson (18 Nov 1934): 87

 

Interestingly, Tvilling had a MUCH better ice hockey career. I'd like to see athletes try excelling in more than one sport today...Anyway, I was unable to confirm that Arne Larsson (27 Apr 1931) and Leif Forsberg (6 Oct 1932) are still alive.

 

Living players capped before 1960 (number of caps during year in parenthesis).

 

1950: -

1951: Hans Tvilling (2), Reino Börjesson (1)

1952: -

1953: Henry Thillberg (4), Kurt Hamrin (3)

1954: Henry Thillberg (8), Kurt Hamrin (8)

1955: Kurt Hamrin (9), Bertil Nilsson (4), Henry Thillberg (3) & Charles Gustafsson (1)

1956: Henry Thillberg (4) & Jan Ekström (3)

1957: Reino Börjesson (2), Jan Ekström (2), Charles Gustafsson (1), Harry Bild (1) & Lars-Erik Ahlberg (1),

1958: Reino Börjesson (7), Kurt Hamrin (5), Lennart Backman (2) & Owe Ohlsson (1)

1959: Lennart Backman (4), Henry Thillberg (3), Harry Bild (3), Owe Ohlsson (1), Lars-Erik Ahlberg (1) & Nils Johansson (1)

 

Ekström was apparently originally included in the 1958 WC squad, but was ultimately omitted. Injuries stopped Thillberg and Backman from participating at the tournament.

 

Living goalscorers for Sweden in the 1950s:

 

Kurt Hamrin: 14

Henry Thillberg: 9

Harry Bild: 3

Bertil Nilsson: 3

Jan Ekström: 2

Reino Börjesson: 2

 

DOB for those capped in the 50s and not in the top 10 list:

 

Nils Johansson (14 Dec 1934), Bertil Nilsson (16 Jan 1936), Harry Bild (18 Dec 1936), Jan Ekström (11 Oct 1937) & Owe Ohlsson (19 Aug 1938)

 

To bring back the main topic, Lennart Wing (7 Aug 1935) is very much alive. He played for Dundee Utd for a few years. Also, Sven Lindberg played for Petersborough Utd in 57-58. The goalie also played for the Welsh club Barry Town Utd plus supposedly one single game for Preston North End.

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Len Casey, who some sources are reporting as Chelsea's oldest former player, reportedly dead aged 91: 

 

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11 hours ago, YoungWillz said:

Len Casey, who some sources are reporting as Chelsea's oldest former player, reportedly dead aged 91: 

 


Obit from Chelsea F.C.

They confirm he was their oldest player. They also usefully clarify that their oldest player is now Len Kell (Hugman's) b. 1932, who appears to be too obscure to have his own Wiki page!

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I am getting towards the end of the additional players born from 1930-1932 to add to the oldest players list. 1930 and 1931 is done, with a bit of work to go for 1932, but hope to have it uploaded here by the end of the year.

 

Thanks to @Ulitzer95, the GRO Index has revealed that one chap from the original list who won't be on the new one is Keith Francis who died back in 2019:

 

FRANCIS, KEITH  ROY   1929  

GRO Reference:  DOR  Q4/2019 in SOMERSET 

 

 

 

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80% there now in terms of progression with adding the 1931 and 1932 births for a much fuller update.

 

But at the same time, I'm checking the old ones and I'm pretty sure I've solved John O'Sullivan. There's only one John O'Sullivan born in Cork between April-June 1922 according to Irish birth records. That gives a middle name of Joseph.

John Joseph O'Sullivan, born 30th May 1922 (same date as the footballer), died 13th September 2004, in Australia - https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/231347563/john-joseph-o'sullivan

 

I'd like a bit more evidence, but I'm 95% sure it's him based on the lack of other possibilities.

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39 minutes ago, Octopus of Odstock said:

80% there now in terms of progression with adding the 1931 and 1932 births for a much fuller update.

 

But at the same time, I'm checking the old ones and I'm pretty sure I've solved John O'Sullivan. There's only one John O'Sullivan born in Cork between April-June 1922 according to Irish birth records. That gives a middle name of Joseph.

John Joseph O'Sullivan, born 30th May 1922 (same date as the footballer), died 13th September 2004, in Australia - https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/231347563/john-joseph-o'sullivan

 

I'd like a bit more evidence, but I'm 95% sure it's him based on the lack of other possibilities.


Where do you access the Irish birth records?

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