Charlie Sillett

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Charlie Sillett
Personal information
Full name Charles Thomas Sillett
Date of birth (1906-10-29)29 October 1906
Place of birth Plumstead, England
Date of death 27 February 1945(1945-02-27) (aged 38)
Place of death SS Corvus, off Lizard Point, England
Height 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)
Position(s) Full back
Youth career
1931
Barking Town
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1931–1938 Southampton 175 (9)
1938 Guildford City

Military career
Allegiance 
Second World War
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Charles Thomas Sillett (29 October 1906 – 27 February 1945) was an English professional footballer who played as a full back for Southampton in the 1930s. He was the father of John Sillett and Peter Sillett, both of whom became professional footballers.

Charlie Sillett was killed in a U-boat attack on an allied convoy while serving with the Royal Navy in 1945.[2] He had already survived the torpedoing of HMS Registan in 1942.[1]

Football career

Army

Sillett was born in

physical training instructor. His skills on the football field won him a variety of Army representative honours.[3]

In 1931, his Army career came to an end, and after a short period playing with Barking Town in the Athenian League he joined Second Division Southampton in October 1931.[3]

Southampton

He played two matches with Southampton's reserves, before being drafted into the first team as an emergency

left-back, replacing Reg Thomas for the final three matches of the season.[4]

During

inside right, during which he scored twice in a 5–0 victory over Bradford at The Dell on 16 December.[6]

In August 1934, after three seasons with the Saints, Sillett became an established member of the first team and in 1934–35 he only missed three games, playing at either left- or right-back.[7] He soon became "very popular with fans and colleagues alike"[3] and his versatility meant that he was equally at home on either side of the pitch. In the following season, he was ever-present often playing further forward in midfield and occasionally standing in as centre forward when Vic Watson was unavailable.[8] During this season, he was a member of the team that suffered an 8–0 defeat against Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane on 28 March 1936 (still the highest margin of defeat); two days later, he played at The Dell against Port Vale in front of only 1,875 spectators (losing 1–0). This was the lowest-ever crowd for a first-team match at The Dell.[9]

He only missed one league match in

Third Round FA Cup match in front of a record crowd of 30,380. Sunderland won 3–2 and went on to take the cup in the final the following May.[11]

In his final season at The Dell, Sillett was appointed team captain, "leading the side with distinction", but began to suffer regularly from injuries causing him to miss a third of the season, at the end of which he decided to retire.[12] During his seven years with Southampton, Sillett made a total of 183 appearances in League and Cup matches for the first team, scoring 10 goals. Throughout his entire Southampton career, the club was struggling both financially and on the pitch, regularly finishing in the lower half of the table.

Later career and death

He had a brief career in non-League football with Guildford City, before becoming a publican at "The Lamb" at Nomansland in the New Forest.[3]

During

Able Seaman Dennis Baker.[15] Both U-boats were sunk two hours later with depth charges from HMS Loch Fada.[16]

He is commemorated on the Chatham Naval Memorial.[17]

Family

Sillett was married to Anne[17] and their children included Peter (born in Southampton on 1 February 1933) and John (born in Southampton on 20 July 1936). The two sons were trainees at Southampton after the war, both subsequently joining Chelsea.

Peter played 64 games for Southampton, before moving to Chelsea in 1953, where he had a long career playing 260 league matches and going on to make three appearances for England in 1955. He was also a (non-playing) member of England's squad for the 1958 FIFA World Cup.

John never appeared in Southampton's first team, but joined his brother at Chelsea in 1954, making 93 appearances in the league. He subsequently played for Coventry City and Plymouth Argyle, before becoming a manager at Hereford United and then at Coventry City, where he won the 1987 FA Cup final.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "Charles Thomas Sillett". uboat.net. Retrieved 13 February 2020.
  2. ^ a b "DS Corvus – Final Fate". warsailors.com. 30 July 2008. Retrieved 20 February 2009.
  3. ^
    ISBN 0-9514862-3-3
    .
  4. ISBN 0-907969-22-4
    .
  5. ^ Saints – A complete record. pp. 88–89.
  6. ^ Saints – A complete record. pp. 90–91.
  7. ^ Saints – A complete record. pp. 92–93.
  8. ^ Saints – A complete record. pp. 94–95.
  9. ISBN 0-9534474-1-3
    .
  10. ^ Saints – A complete record. pp. 96–97.
  11. ^ Match of the Millennium. pp. 56–57.
  12. ^ Saints – A complete record. pp. 98–99.
  13. ^ "Registan (British steam merchant ship)". uboat.net. Retrieved 13 February 2020.
  14. ^ "Today in History: 27 February". seawaves.com. 27 February 2008. Archived from the original on 6 January 2009. Retrieved 20 February 2009.
  15. ^ "DS Corvus – crew list". warsailors.com. 30 July 2008. Retrieved 20 February 2009.
  16. ^ "Corvus (Norwegian steam merchant ship)". uboat.net. Retrieved 13 February 2020.
  17. ^ a b "Commonwealth War Graves Commission: Casualty Details". CWGC. Retrieved 23 December 2016.

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Charlie_Sillett&oldid=1208570407"