Charles Edward McGibbon (21 April 1880 – 2 May 1954) was an English

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 for several teams, including Woolwich Arsenal and

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

, on a part-time basis while serving with the

Royal Garrison Artillery The Royal Garrison Artillery (RGA) was formed in 1899 as a distinct arm of the British Army's Royal Regiment of Artillery serving alongside the other two arms of the Regiment, the Royal Field Artillery (RFA) and the Royal Horse Artillery (RHA) ...

. He also played one first-class

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

match for

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

following the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

Football career

McGibbon was born in

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

in April 1880, and joined the

, reaching the rank of sergeant. While serving at the Ordnance College of the

Woolwich Woolwich () is a district in southeast London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich. The district's location on the River Thames led to its status as an important naval, military and industrial area; a role that was maintained throu ...

, he came to the attention of Woolwich Arsenal, whom he joined in August 1905. He failed to get into the first team and after a spell with

Eltham Eltham ( ) is a district of southeast London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich. It is east-southeast of Charing Cross, and is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. The three wards of Elt ...

, he joined New Brompton (now Gillingham) in 1907, who were playing in the Southern League under the management and captaincy of former

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 ...

international Stephen Smith. In McGibbon's season at the club, New Brompton finished bottom of the table, avoiding relegation only due to the expansion of the league, but did achieve an

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

victory over First Division

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

, in which McGibbon scored a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...

. McGibbon had previously scored a hat-trick in the 6–0 victory over

Shepherds Bush Shepherd's Bush is a district of West London, England, within the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham west of Charing Cross, and identified as a major metropolitan centre in the London Plan. Although primarily residential in character, ...

in the fifth qualifying round. In the

first round First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and reco ...

match, played at

Priestfield Stadium Priestfield Stadium (popularly known simply as Priestfield and officially known from 2007 to 2010 as KRBS Priestfield Stadium and from 2011 as MEMS Priestfield Stadium for sponsorship purposes) is a football stadium in Gillingham, Kent. It has ...

on 11 January 1908, Sunderland took the lead after half an hour from England international George Holley. New Brompton equalised immediately with a header from McGibbon, who followed up with two second-half goals to claim a 3–1 victory. In the

second round The second (symbol: s) is the unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally to 60 seconds e ...

, New Brompton came up against

Manchester City Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...

, then third in the

Football League First Division The Football League First Division was a division of the Football League in England from 1888 until 2004. It was the top division in the English football league system from the season 1888–89 until 1991–92, a century in which the First ...

. McGibbon scored in the first match, which ended 1–1, and again in the replay (from a penalty) but was unable to prevent the Football League club from claiming a 2–1 victory. McGibbon ended the 1907–08 season as New Brompton's top scorer with 22 goals from all competitions. McGibbon played for Southern League Crystal Palace in the 1908–09 season, scoring a hat-trick in a 4–4 draw with

at The Dell on 5 October 1908. This brought him to the attention of the Southampton directors, and when McGibbon's military duties took him to Portsmouth, he joined Southampton in May 1909. Described as "physically well-suited for the role of centre-forward", McGibbon possessed a "powerful shot (and) influential leadership qualities". His opportunism in front of goal enabled him to score 19 goals in 28 league goals in the 1909–10 season, making him Southampton's top-scorer for the season. In March 1910, his military duties took him back to Woolwich, and he immediately found a place in a struggling Woolwich Arsenal team that was fighting relegation. He made his debut away to Chelsea on 28 March 1910 and scored the only goal in a 1–0 win. He followed that up with the winner in a 1–0 victory over

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park ...

and the equaliser in a 1–1 draw with

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...

. His three goals from four appearances helped Arsenal avoid relegation from the

, by a margin of two points above Chelsea. At the start of the following season, McGibbon moved on to join Leyton, where he broke his right leg on

Boxing Day Boxing Day is a holiday celebrated after Christmas Day, occurring on the second day of Christmastide (26 December). Though it originated as a holiday to give gifts to the poor, today Boxing Day is primarily known as a shopping holiday. It ...

in 1910. After a spell at

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...

, McGibbon returned to

in November 1911, but failed to get back into the first team, having been found guilty by The FA of taking illegal payments while playing at Leyton as an amateur.

World War I and later life

McGibbon served in the

as a clerk with the Royal Garrison Artillery. He saw active service on the

Western Front Western Front or West Front may refer to: Military frontiers *Western Front (World War I), a military frontier to the west of Germany *Western Front (World War II), a military frontier to the west of Germany *Western Front (Russian Empire), a majo ...

, where he captained a Royal Artillery football team which played the Royal Engineers at the front on Christmas of 1914. After the war, he found employment as the chief clerk for the

Royal Army Medical Corps The Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) is a specialist corps in the British Army which provides medical services to all Army personnel and their families, in war and in peace. The RAMC, the Royal Army Veterinary Corps, the Royal Army Dental Corps a ...

in the Statistical Office at Netley Hospital and later worked for Supermarine at Woolston, where he became manager of the Supermarine Sports Club. McGibbon played

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officiall ...

for

in July 1919, a heavy innings defeat against

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

Dewsbury Dewsbury is a minster and market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees in West Yorkshire, England. It lies on the River Calder and on an arm of the Calder and Hebble Navigation waterway. It is to the west of Wakefield, east of Hudder ...

in the

County Championship The County Championship (referred to as the LV= Insurance County Championship for sponsorship reasons) is the domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales and is organised by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). It bec ...

. Batting twice in the match, he was dismissed from the

middle order In cricket, the batting order is the sequence in which batters play through their team's innings, there always being two batters taking part at any one time. All eleven players in a team are required to bat if the innings is completed (i.e., i ...

without scoring in Hampshire's first innings by

Billy Williams Billy Leo Williams (born June 15, 1938) is a former left fielder and coach in Major League Baseball (MLB) who played from 1959 to 1976, almost entirely for the Chicago Cubs. A six-time All-Star, Williams was named the 1961 National League (NL) ...

, while following-on in their second innings, he batted at number eleven and was unbeaten with a single run. In Yorkshire's only innings, he bowled one

over Over may refer to: Places *Over, Cambridgeshire, England *Over, Cheshire, England *Over, South Gloucestershire, England * Over, Tewkesbury, near Gloucester, England ** Over Bridge *Over, Seevetal, Germany Music Albums * ''Over'' (album), by Pe ...

which conceded 10 runs. In later life, he played billiards and in 1933, 1934 and 1936 he was

British Legion The Royal British Legion (RBL), formerly the British Legion, is a British charity providing financial, social and emotional support to members and veterans of the British Armed Forces, their families and dependants, as well as all others in ne ...

South Eastern area billiards champion. He also represented Netley and Hampshire, reaching the national semi-finals in 1936. McGibbon died in April 1954 at Hamble-le-Rice, Hampshire. His son,

Douglas Douglas may refer to: People * Douglas (given name) * Douglas (surname) Animals *Douglas (parrot), macaw that starred as the parrot ''Rosalinda'' in Pippi Longstocking *Douglas the camel, a camel in the Confederate Army in the American Civil W ...

(1919–2002), played football for

from 1938 to 1947, as well as for

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandsworth ...

and

Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic AFC Bournemouth () is a professional association football club based in Kings Park, Boscombe, a suburb of Bournemouth, Dorset, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest division of English club football. Formed in 1899 as Bo ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:McGibbon, Charlie 1880 births 1954 deaths Footballers from Portsmouth Cricketers from Portsmouth Military personnel from Portsmouth Royal Garrison Artillery soldiers English men's footballers Men's association football forwards Southern Football League players Arsenal F.C. players Gillingham F.C. players Crystal Palace F.C. players Southampton F.C. players Leyton F.C. players Reading F.C. players British Army personnel of World War I English cricketers Hampshire cricketers English players of English billiards