Alfred Shelton (11 September 1865 – 24 July 1923) was an English international

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

, who played as a

left half A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

. His brother

Charles Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English language, English and French language, French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic, Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*k ...

was also a professional footballer. Born in

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east ...

, Shelton played for

Notts Rangers Notts Rangers Football Club was an English football club, founded in 1868 under the name Nottingham St James. They became Nottingham Rangers in 1880 and by 1886 were habitually referred to as Notts Rangers. History A founder member of the Midla ...

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nottingham, England. The team participate in the National League (division), National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Founded on the 2 ...

Loughborough Loughborough ( ) is a market town in the Charnwood borough of Leicestershire, England, the seat of Charnwood Borough Council and Loughborough University. At the 2011 census the town's built-up area had a population of 59,932 , the second larg ...

and Ilkeston Town, and earned six caps for

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

between 1889 and 1892.

Early career

Alf Shelton was one of three brothers – Harry and Charlie Shelton the others – who did so much for

football. Alf was educated at St. Nicholas School, which he left to join Notts Rangers. He signed in 1884. When the club collapsed in 1888 he, along with other members, threw in their lot with "The Magpies", the nickname for Notts County. He signed in August 1888. A wing half with exceptional stamina, he was a difficult player to get past. He also excelled in heading, often getting his head in the way of goal-bound shots. NOTE: The Dykes book claims that Alf Shelton left Notts Rangers and signed for Notts County because Notts Rangers collapsed. Wikipedia and Football Club History Database show that Notts Rangers played in the 1888–89 and 1889–90 FA Cup competitions and took part in the first season, 1889–90, of the Midland League.

1888–89 season

Alf Shelton, playing at wing–half, made his Notts County & League debut on 8 September 1888 at Anfield, the then home of Everton. Notts County lost to the home team 2–1. Alf Shelton appeared in 21 of the 22 League matches played by Notts County in season 1888–89. 21 appearances was the record for a Notts County player in season 1888–89. As a wing–half (21 appearances ) he played in a Notts County midfield that achieved big (three–League–goals–in–a–match–or–more) wins on two separate occasions.

1889 onwards

Alf Shelton appeared in both of Notts County' two FA Cup Finals and won six England caps, and in 1892 was offered the opportunity to captain the newly formed Liverpool club. Despite what constituted a most generous offer at the time (£250) per annum he was not tempted to leave the Magpies. He played for Notts County from 1888–1896 and then moved to League Division 2 club,

. He only stayed with Loughborough for the one season, 1896–1897. He signed for Ilkeston Town in July 1897. Ilkeston Town competed in the

Midland League The Midland Football League is an English football league that was founded in 2014 by the merger of the former Midland Alliance and Midland Combination. The league has four divisions that sit at levels 9–12 of the football pyramid. History Th ...

and the FA Cup. One of their two best cup runs was in 1897-1898 when they reached the 5th Qualifying Round. It is not known whether Shelton played in that Cup run but he was on their books as a player.

End of career

Ilkeston Town folded in 1900 and it is assumed that is when Shelton retired as a player. In the same year he returned to Notts County as a Director on the Club' Board. He was on the County Board until 1910. He died in tragic circumstances on 24 July 1923. It is not recorded whether he worked at the

Royal Ordnance Factory Royal Ordnance Factories (ROFs) was the collective name of the UK government's munitions factories during and after the Second World War. Until privatisation, in 1987, they were the responsibility of the Ministry of Supply, and later the Ministr ...

, but he was on site and was killed when a crane collapsed onto him. In one source the factory is described as a

Cammell Laird Cammell Laird is a British shipbuilding company. It was formed from the merger of Laird Brothers of Birkenhead and Johnson Cammell & Co of Sheffield at the turn of the twentieth century. The company also built railway rolling stock until 1929, ...

factory. The factory was opened by H. M. Government in 1916 as a Royal Ordnance Factory to manufacture shells for the Western Front. Cammell Laird built the factory and managed it on behalf of HM Government. In the year Shelton met his fatal accident the site had been bought outright by Cammell Laird and the site was used to make railway goods wagons.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shelton, Alf 1865 births 1923 deaths English footballers England international footballers Notts Rangers F.C. players Notts County F.C. players Loughborough F.C. players Ilkeston Town F.C. (1880s) players English Football League players Association football midfielders FA Cup Final players