Charles William Spencer (4 December 1899 – 9 February 1953) 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 ...
and manager.
Club career
After service with the
Royal Engineers during 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 ...
, Spencer joined
Newcastle United from non-league football in October 1921.
He played for the club until 1928, making a total of 175 appearances and scored one goal.
In January 1928, Spencer signed for
Manchester United, and was given the captaincy upon his arrival. However, he was only there for 18 months, leaving the club for
Tunbridge Wells Rangers in 1929, to become a player-coach at the Kent-based side. He then moved to
Wigan Athletic
Wigan Athletic Football Club () is an English professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system.
Founded in 1932, ...
, where he became the club's first ever manager.
International career
Spencer played twice 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 ...
. His first game was against
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...
on 12 April 1924 and his second, and last, cap came against
Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...
on 28 February 1925.
Managerial career
Spencer became
Wigan Athletic's first ever manager in August 1932.
During his first four seasons at the club, he won the Cheshire County League Championship three times.
He left Wigan in March 1937 to become manager of
Grimsby Town
Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that in the 2022–23 season will compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system, following the victory in t ...
.
Grimsby were then playing in the
First Division and narrowly avoided relegation at the end of the
1937–38 season.
The following season, Spencer had assembled a fine squad, including former
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...
centre forward
Fred Howe,
Jimmy Boyd
Jimmy Devon Boyd (January 9, 1939 – March 7, 2009) was an American singer, musician, and actor known for his 1952 recording of the song "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus".
Early years
Jimmy Boyd was born in 1939 Mississippi into a musical fam ...
(who had won the FA Cup with
Newcastle United in
1932
Events January
* January 4 – The British authorities in India arrest and intern Mahatma Gandhi and Vallabhbhai Patel.
* January 9 – Sakuradamon Incident: Korean nationalist Lee Bong-chang fails in his effort to assassinate Emperor Hiro ...
) and
Tommy Jones from
Blackpool. Grimsby performed far better in the league, finishing in tenth place in
the table, whilst in the
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 ...
, they reached the
semi-final against
Wolverhampton Wanderers
Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...
, having defeated fellow First Division team
Chelsea
Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to:
Places Australia
* Chelsea, Victoria
Canada
* Chelsea, Nova Scotia
* Chelsea, Quebec
United Kingdom
* Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames
** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...
in the previous round. The semi-final was played at
Old Trafford on 25 March 1939 in front of a crowd of 76,962 spectators; this remains the record attendance at Old Trafford. In the semi-final, Grimsby were no match for Wolves and were "simply swept aside",
going down 5–0.
He was appointed as manager of
York City
York City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of York, North Yorkshire, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team compete in the National League, at the fifth tier of the English football league sys ...
in November 1952.
However, he died less than three months into his reign at the club on 9 February 1953 at his home in
Blackpool.
Managerial stats
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Spencer, Charlie
1899 births
People from Washington, Tyne and Wear
Footballers from Tyne and Wear
1953 deaths
English footballers
England international footballers
Association football defenders
Newcastle United F.C. players
Manchester United F.C. players
Tunbridge Wells F.C. players
English Football League players
English football managers
Wigan Athletic F.C. managers
Grimsby Town F.C. managers
York City F.C. managers
Hastings United F.C. (1948) managers
English Football League managers
English Football League representative players
British Army personnel of World War I
Royal Engineers soldiers
FA Cup Final players