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Octopus of Odstock

Oldest Living football league players

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Willie O'Brien

Based on the fact that there was only one William O'Brien born in Middlesbrough in 1929, this must be him:

William O'Brien
b. 1929 Middlesbrough to William O'Brien & Rosalie McGouran
m. Joyce H. Newell
d. 2015 (aged 86)

Doesn't say where he died. However, there are clues:
1) In July 1952, he's listed as a passenger on the steam ship destined for New York from Southampton. This is one year after his professional football career ceased. He's listed as a boiler maker.
2) His wife's family all died in Ontario, Canada and appear to have links to Quebec too.
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George Price

Updated on the Hugman's website since your post to say he died in 1982.

Their info:
b. George Price 2 Dec 1929 Crewe, England
d. Feb 1982 North Carolina, USA

I disagree.

The individual they're referring to is likely this man:
George Curtis Price
b. 2 Dec 1929 North Carolina, USA
d. Feb 1982 Florida, USA

Not the footballer.
 

@michaelf - as per this link, George Price was alive in 2017 - https://www.winsfordguardian.co.uk/news/15561666.care-home-residents-make-memory-tree-improve-wellbeing/

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Josser Watling has become one of the ten first inductees into Bristol Rovers' Hall of Fame.

Announcement here.

Confirms he is the oldest player from the club still alive (not sure if that was known already?). Gives no recent update of him or a quote/reaction...

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On 24/04/2021 at 21:25, Octopus of Odstock said:

@michaelf, this is what Ulitzer found on 1927-1929:

 

George Davies

This family tree suggests he died in Cape Town, South Africa. Doesn't state when annoyingly. You can request death certificates from the SA Gov site so maybe Michael could work with this?

308539041_ScreenShot2021-04-22at23_05_49.thumb.jpg.9f3aa84389f6881aca5963a81c8eba0b.jpg
605451333_ScreenShot2021-04-22at23_06_15.thumb.jpg.0433246cdb3c0b59d3952b766d83669c.jpg

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John Brooks

Nice and easy:

 

Name: Mr John Brooks
Gender: Male
Age: 91
Birth Date: 8 Mar 1927
Last Residence: Stoke-On-Trent, Staffordshire, England
Postal Code District: ST7
Death Date: 9 Jul 2018
  •  
  • Christopher Leonard

    b. Christopher Leonard 11 Jul 1927 Jarrow, EN (Hugman's)

    Family tree:

    Christopher Leonard
    b. 1927 Jarrow
    d. 1987 
    father: William Leonard
    mother: Elizabeth Cartwright

    Now he was the only Christopher Leonard born in that entire region in 1927 so must be him.
    Problem is where? Definitely did not die in the UK... and I extended the search on FreeBMD to 1985–1989 in case the authors of the tree recalled the year wrongly... which happens (like in David D Gray's case).
    Anyway, I believe this is him, but best of luck finding more. It's a game of "where in the world".
    -------------------------------------

    ------------------------------------
    Robert Williams

    Can't find his fate but Hugman's should correct his birth name. Definitely Robert Raymond Williams, not Raymond Robert Williams. Will help with finding him further down the line.
    ------------------------------------
    Thomas McGairy

    Dead. Alternate spelling brings up an exact match on birthdate:
     
Name: Thomas McGarry
Death Age: 75
Birth Date: 25 Nov 1927
Registration Date: Dec 2002
Registration District: Leeds
Inferred County: Yorkshire
Register Number: A32C
District and Subdistrict: 0921A
Entry Number: 56

 

 


  • ------------------------
    Ken Maxwell

    Died in Victoria, Australia in January 2007 as per this family tree:

Birth
11 Feb 1928  Glasgow, Lanarkshire, Scotland
2 Sources

Marriage
18 Jun 1949  Barrhead, Renfrewshire, Scotland
Barrhead Reformist Church / Theresa Emily Reaney Wild

Death
11 Jan 2007  Bundoora, Victoria, Australia
Bundoora Extended Care, buried in Yan Yean Cemetary


 


@michaelf, think you may have missed this post from OoO.

 

Any comments/useful leads here? 

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Arthur Smith will turn 106 on May 8th 2021. He played his first Football League match in December 1934 - almost 5 years before the start of WW2. His career was with Bury and Leicester City. He is believed to be the oldest ever Football League player of the 44179 players (to date) who have appeared since the League was formed in 1888. He is now older than the oldest ever County Cricketer John Manners who died in 2020 aged 105.

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Not a football league player but Kilmarnock's oldest living player Jock Murdoch was 95 years old on Wednesday.

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And one from Spain:

 

 

Joan Bautista Llopis, the oldest surviving former Barça player, turned 105 today.

 

To think of how the world has changed during the incredible span of his life... https://t.co/gCoJm4OCyS

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One-time #avfc midfielder Reginald Beresford celebrates his 100th birthday today. Reg, from Walsall, played under boss Alex Massie in 1945-46. He's an incredible war hero having sunk the Bismarck Nazi ship in 1941 while, on VE Day, he fought Japanese kamikaze pilots over Okinawa. https://t.co/7YYOB3Yrd1

Reg Beresford makes it to 100 years of age.

 

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Good to hear.Also Alf Patrick will be 100 in September.His 99th birthday is on the internet

I have queries on a few old players

Herbert Harrison born 23rd of January 1916 no death may have been Herbert K G

George Thompson born Ireland 5th November 1913 death unknown

Leonard Archibald Young born 23rd February 1912 death unknown probably in Australia

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One bit of good news - Peter Greenwood is definitely still alive - https://cricket.lancashirecricket.co.uk/news/2020-news/peter-greenwood-lancashires-longest-living-cricketer/

 

Sadly though, Kenny McDevitt died earlier this year as per a 2021 Will search:

 

Surname First name Date of probate Probate number Date of death Document type Registry  
McDevitt Kenneth Richard 23 April 2021 1616863683114743 15 February 2021 Grant and will Principal Registry

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Happy to let you all know that Graham Bailey is still alive and well. I went to visit him this afternoon and he's in great health. 

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On 08/02/2021 at 16:39, Ulitzer95 said:

The death of Collins means that there are now only two GB footballers left on the List of notable surviving veterans of World War II page, Arthur Smith (105) and Josser Watling (95).

Surely there must be a few more than that? @Octopus of Odstock, @michaelf, is this something either of you have information on?

Graham Bailey served in WW2.

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There sure are probably tons of famous living wwII veterans who aren't mentioned on that page. I checked and 50% of the list is made of Americans, which seems a bit weird.

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1 hour ago, arghton said:

There sure are probably tons of famous living wwII veterans who aren't mentioned on that page. I checked and 50% of the list is made of Americans, which seems a bit weird.


It’s not weird. It’s the English language Wikipedia, so there’s a disproportionate  number of bios of people from English speaking countries, particularly America.

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1 minute ago, Ulitzer95 said:


It’s not weird. It’s the English language Wikipedia, so there’s a disproportionate  number of bios of people from English speaking countries, particularly America.

UK only has under one sixth, around 84 people. Canada has 20.

I'm pretty sure the list is missing a lot of people, especially Asians: Japan only has around 8 names and that's probably the most people an Asian country on that list has.

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Hi I have more info on footballers of 90 plus

John Babes diedBelfast 27th April 1999

Arnold Jackson is not the footballer in an earlier post so he is alive

David Proctor died Belfast September 2011

Geoffrey Sellers died Trafford July 2019

David Lemon Wilkinson died Sunderland Jan 2012

Rober Brian Williams died Wigan April 2019 born 1927

John Morris Jones died Surrey march 2019

Russell Crosslet died Arbroath 2018

Ronald Patterson died Aveyron France 7th November 2018

1928

James Donnelly died greenmount Cork 19th December 1959

George Thompson died Lisburn 5th of June 1980 born 5th November1913

 

michael

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Yes I think Billy O'neill has died but can't give you a date

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Sad news

 

Any news on Eric williams  born 1921

He also played for Halifax

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Okay, the GRO records aren't up, but there's 2020 deaths on findmypast.co.uk

 

It's not complete by any means as I know there are 2020 deaths not on there, but it's a start. I'll post as I go along.

 

And I've found that one of the most queried "Is he still alive?" is... well, not.

 

Sam Parker - 

First name(s)  Samuel
Postcode area  L
Last name  Parker
Postcode district  L6
Sex  Male
Postcode sector  L6 0
Age  0
County  Lancashire
Birth year  1924
Country  England
Birth date  05 Apr 1924
Record set  England & Wales Deaths 2007-2020
Death year  2020
Category  Birth, Marriage, Death & Parish Records
Death date  06 Aug 2020
Subcategory  Civil Deaths & Burials
Residence  Liverpool
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Terry Regan:

 

 

itle  MR
Geo direction  Yorkshire & Humberside
First name(s)  Terence
Postcode area  LS
Last name  Regan
Postcode district  LS29
Sex  Male
Postcode sector  LS29 8
Age  0
County  Yorkshire
Birth year  1926
Country  England
Birth date  26 Jun 1926
Record set  England & Wales Deaths 2007-2020
Death year  2020
Category  Birth, Marriage, Death & Parish Records
Death date  23 Oct 2020
Subcategory  Civil Deaths & Burials
Residence  Ilkley
Collections from 
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