Christopher Roy Chilton (25 June 1943 – 20 May 2021) was an English professional

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 ...

who played in

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

for

Hull City Hull City Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, that compete in the . They have played home games at the MKM Stadium since moving from Boothferry Park in 2002. The club's t ...

and

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Coventry, West Midlands, England. The team currently compete in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. The club is nicknamed t ...

. Chilton was born in

Sproatley Sproatley is a village and civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It is situated approximately north-east of Hull city centre and north of Hedon at the junction of the B1238 and B1240 roads. The village church, dedicated to ...

East Riding of Yorkshire The East Riding of Yorkshire, or simply East Riding or East Yorkshire, is a ceremonial county and unitary authority area in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and west, South Yorkshire to t ...

. Chilton played as an

inside forward Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

for Church League side Bilton, but after joining Hull City he played at centre forward.Soccer Who's Who compiled by Maurice Golesworth, The Sportsman's Book Club 1965 He is Hull City's all-time top scorer, with 222 goals in all competitions. He was renowned for his partnership with fellow striker

Ken Wagstaff Kenneth Wagstaff (born 24 November 1942) is an English former footballer noted for his playing career at Mansfield Town and Hull City football clubs. In 2000, club fans of both Mansfield Town and Hull City voted Wagstaff their club's player of t ...

, the taller, unselfish Chilton proving to be the perfect foil to the stocky, more predatory Wagstaff. Both players were deemed unlucky not to gain international honours - although both played for an England league XI in representative games. During Hull's 1965-66 successful Division Two promotion campaign Chilton scored 29 goals despite the presence of an egg-sized lump of fat behind a knee. He had an operation in the close season to remove it. Despite numerous offers to move to other clubs - notably

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 ...

and

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road S ...

. Chilton remained loyal to his local club for the majority of his career. He finally left for a short spell at

which ended due to a back injury. There then followed a spell in South African football with Highlands Park FC (1974–1978) before he returned to the UK, taking up a variety of coaching positions at his beloved Hull City. He was youth-team manager and responsible for the development of future England manager

Steve McClaren Stephen McClaren (born 3 May 1961) is an English former professional footballer and coach who currently serves as an assistant coach for Premier League club Manchester United, in his second spell at the club. McClaren began his coaching caree ...

and England international winger Brian Marwood amongst others. Another notable achievement was the mentoring which resulted in the development of hard-man striker

Billy Whitehurst William Whitehurst (born 10 June 1959) is an English retired professional footballer active during the 1980s and 1990s. Whitehurst's robust style of play attracted much notoriety and he is considered by many to have been the hardest player to h ...

, who was eventually sold for a huge profit - having arrived from non-league football for a nominal fee. Chilton eventually became assistant first-team manager under

Colin Appleton Colin Harry Appleton (7 March 1936 – 31 May 2021) was an English footballer and manager. He was captain of the celebrated Leicester side nicknamed the "ice kings" which chased the double in 1962–63 and he also captained the club to their f ...

and later

Brian Horton Brian "Nobby" Horton (born 4 February 1949) is an English former footballer and manager. He spent 16 years as a professional player and 22 years as a manager, making 689 appearances and managing 1,098 matches. In addition to this he spent four ...

and for a short-spell - also caretaker manager - following the sacking of Mike Smith. He was however eventually moved back to youth-team coach by Horton, who promoted Dennis Booth in his place. Apart from a short spell as assistant manager at Lincoln City, Chilton had little to do with the game since, although he published his autobiography 'Chillo' in 2005. He was retired and lived in

Thorngumbald Thorngumbald is a village and civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England, in an area known as Holderness, east of Hull on the A1033. The civil parish is formed by the village and the hamlets of Camerton and Ryehill. At the 20 ...

. Chilton later developed

dementia Dementia is a disorder which manifests as a set of related symptoms, which usually surfaces when the brain is damaged by injury or disease. The symptoms involve progressive impairments in memory, thinking, and behavior, which negatively affe ...

, and died on 20 May 2021, aged 77.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Chilton, Chris 1943 births 2021 deaths Footballers from the East Riding of Yorkshire English footballers Association football forwards Hull City A.F.C. players Coventry City F.C. players Bridlington Trinity F.C. players Highlands Park F.C. players English Football League players Deaths from dementia in the United Kingdom