Charlie Whitchurch

DOB: 29th October 1920

Position: Winger

Season of first appearance: 1951/52

Season of last appearance: 1951/52

Full Appearances: 5

Substitute: 0

Goals: 0

Also played for:

Ford Motors, Portsmouth (0), Charlton Athletic (0), West Ham United (0), Tottenham Hotspur (8,2), Southend United (18,5), Folkestone Town and Betteshanger Colliery Welfare.

Player Profile:

Grays-born England Schoolboy international who was employed at the Ford Motor Company in Dagenham and played for Ford Motors before being signed as an amateur by Portsmouth.

During the early months of the 1944/45 season, Charlie made a one-off appearance as a guest player for Charlton in a wartime game and in January 1945 he joined West Ham.

Charlie went on to become a regular in West Ham's side after making his debut on 13.1.45 in a 5-4 home win over Brighton & Hove Albion and scored 11 goals in 34 appearances, most of which were made in the Football League South. That was a competition played before the resumption of the Football League proper the following season.

In January 1946, Charlie moved on to Tottenham and made eight first team appearances there before signing for Southend in July 1947. He'd previously scored once in two appearances as a guest player for the Shrimpers during the 1945/46 season.

After scoring five goals in 18 senior appearances for Southend during 1947/48, Charlie dropped into non-league football in July 1948.

He spent 1948/49 and 1949/50 with Folkestone and then joined Betteshanger in the summer of 1950.

In August 1951, Charlie signed for Margate and made his debut on the opening day of the 1951/52 campaign, playing on the left wing in a 0-0 draw with Whitstable at Hartsdown Park on 18.8.51. He made four more appearances during the early part of the season but then lost his first team place and spent the remainder of the campaign in the reserves. Charlie left the club at the end of the season.

After his departure from Hartsdown Park, Charlie played for Ford Motors again as he was still employed by the company and then emigrated to Canada. He later relocated to the USA where he worked for General Motors.

Charlie died in Michigan, USA, in July 1977.