Derek Gilbert Ufton (31 May 1928 – 27 March 2021) was an English professional cricketer and

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 later a football manager. Playing professionally for Kent County Cricket Club as a

wicket-keeper The wicket-keeper in the sport of cricket is the player on the fielding side who stands behind the wicket or stumps being watchful of the batsman and ready to take a catch, stump the batsman out and run out a batsman when occasion arises. ...

and Charlton Athletic Football Club, Ufton won a single international cap for the

England national football team The England national football team has represented England in international football since the first international match in 1872. It is controlled by The Football Association (FA), the governing body for football in England, which is affilia ...

in 1953. He went on to manage Plymouth Argyle. At the time of his death, in March 2021 at the age of 92, he was England's oldest living international footballer.RIP Derek Ufton
Charlton Athletic Football Club, 2021-03-27. Retrieved 2021-03-27.Derek Ufton 1928–2021
Kent County Cricket Club, 2021-03-27. Retrieved 2021-03-27.Derek Ufton obituary
''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...

'', 2021-03-29. Retrieved 2021-03-29.

Early life

Ufton was born at Crayford in

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

in 1928. After winning a scholarship, he was educated at Dartford Grammar SchoolPennell M (2014
A remarkable sporting life – Derek Ufton
Kent County Cricket Club, 2014-08-27. Retrieved 2021-03-27. where his PE teacher was Joe Jagger, the father of future rock star

Mick Jagger Sir Michael Philip Jagger (born 26 July 1943) is an English singer and songwriter who has achieved international fame as the lead vocalist and one of the founder members of the rock band the Rolling Stones. His ongoing songwriting partnershi ...

. Growing up during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, Ufton worked in a shipping office in London during the later part of the war. His mother was killed in an air raid in 1944. He completed his

national service National service is the system of voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act 1939. The ...

in the Royal Army Service Corps in

Aldershot Aldershot () is a town in Hampshire, England. It lies on heathland in the extreme northeast corner of the county, southwest of London. The area is administered by Rushmoor Borough Council. The town has a population of 37,131, while the Alder ...

after the end of the war, playing cricket for the RASC and football for Army sides alongside

Jimmy Hill James William Thomas Hill, OBE (22 July 1928 – 19 December 2015) was an English footballer and later a television personality. His career included almost every role in the sport, including player, trade union leader, coach, manager, director ...

. He shared a flat with Hill in London after being demobilised and went on to meet Malcolm Allison, who he remained friends with. This meeting led to him signing as a professional for Charlton Athletic Football Club in 1949, having been also offered a trial at Cardiff City.Derek Ufton, sportsman who played cricket for Kent and football for Charlton Athletic – obituary
''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...

'', 2021-04-01. Retrieved 2021-04-03.

Cricket career

A keen sportsman, Ufton 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 officia ...

for Kent County Cricket Club between 1949 and 1962 as a

batsman.Derek Ufton
CricInfo. Retrieved 2021-03-27. He had first played for the county's Second XI in 1945 and was awarded his Second XI cap in 1946, but his period of national service meant he did not make his First XI debut until 1949.Derek Ufton
CricketArchive. Retrieved 2021-03-27. He scored almost 4,000 runs for the side, keeping wicket as a replacement for England international wicket-keeper

Godfrey Evans Thomas Godfrey Evans (18 August 1920 – 3 May 1999) was an English cricketer who played for Kent and England. Described by ''Wisden'' as 'arguably the best wicket-keeper the game has ever seen', Evans collected 219 dismissals in 91 Test match ...

. In 1961, his most successful season statistically, he scored 668 runs for Kent and took 90 dismissals and made his only first-class appearance for a non-Kent side, playing for an MCC side 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 ...

. His only first-class century, a score of 119

not out In cricket, a batter is not out if they come out to bat in an innings and have not been dismissed by the end of an innings. The batter is also ''not out'' while their innings is still in progress. Occurrence At least one batter is not out at t ...

was made against Sussex at

Hastings Hastings () is a large seaside town and borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, east to the county town of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to the north-west ...

in 1952.Sussex v Kent at Hastings, ''

'', 1952-07-28, p.3.
Available online
at The Times Digital Archive. Retrieved 2021-03-29.) Ufton was awarded his Kent

county cap In sport, a cap is a player's appearance in a game at international level. The term dates from the practice in the United Kingdom of awarding a cap to every player in an international match of rugby football and association football. In the ea ...

in 1956 and continued playing for he county's Second XI after he dropped out of the First XI during 1962, often captaining the side until 1966. He was awarded a benefit season in 1963 and later served on Kent's General Committee and was the club's president in 1991. He played club cricket for

Dartford Cricket Club Dartford Cricket Club is one of the oldest cricket clubs in England with origins which date from the early 18th century, perhaps earlier. The earliest known match involving a team from Dartford took place in 1722, against London, but the club's ...

, continuing to be involved with the club throughout his life.A tribute to DCC legend Derek Ufton

. Retrieved 2021-03-29.

Football career

Ufton made 277 appearances, primarily as a

centre half In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either ...

, for

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, south-east London, which compete in . Their home ground is The Valley, where the club have played since 1919. They have also played at The Mount in ...

between 1949 and 1960. He was notorious for shoulder injuries, and dislocated his at least 20 times during his football career. He gained his only

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 ...

cap in 1953, against a team from the Rest of Europe. He was captain of Charlton in the record-setting match against

Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The team have played home games at the Kirklees Stadium since moving from Leeds Road in 1994. Th ...

at The Valley on 21 December 1957. Charlton played most of the match with 10 men after Ufton broke his collar bone, and Huddersfield were leading 5–1 with just 27 minutes remaining.Giller N (2008
The Summers day that brightened Christmas
Sports Journalists' Association, 2008-12-19. Retrieved 2021-03-21. At that point, Johnny Summers began a passage of play in which he scored five goals and assisted with two others to allow Charlton to win 7–6. Huddersfield become the first, and still the only, team to score six goals in an English Football League match – or any other professional football match – and still be on the losing side. Ufton's playing career was ended by injury in 1960. He then became a coach at Tooting & Mitcham United in 1961, where he stayed until joining Malcolm Allison as a coach at Plymouth Argyle during the 1964–65 season. He replaced Allison as manager in 1965, managing the club in 117 matches before leaving in 1968.R.I.P Derek Ufton
Plymouth Argyle Football Club, 2021-03-27. Retrieved 2021-03-27. He served as a director of Charlton between 1984 and 2009.

Personal life

Ufton married twice, his first marriage ending in divorce. He had five children. After his playing career he worked as a sporting activities director at the Sportsman Casino in London and was the national chairman of the

Lord's Taverners The Lord's Taverners is the UK's leading youth cricket and disability sports charity. Its charitable objective is to empower and positively impact the lives of young people facing the challenges of inequality.'. It was founded in 1950 by a group ...

cricket charity.Derek Ufton: Former Kent cricketer & Charlton and England footballer dies, aged 92

BBC Sport BBC Sport is the sports division of the BBC, providing national sports coverage for BBC television, radio and online. The BBC holds the television and radio UK broadcasting rights to several sports, broadcasting the sport live or alongside flag ...

, 2021-03-27. Retrieved 2021-03-29. In later life he lived at Elham between

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour. The Archbishop of Canterbury is the primate of ...

and Folkestone.Derek Ufton, former Kent cricketer and Charlton and England footballer, dies aged 92
''

Kent Online KM Media Group is a multimedia company in the county of Kent, England which originated as the publisher of the Kent Messenger. The Group now produces local newspapers, radio stations and websites throughout the county. Iliffe Media acquired KM ...

'', 2021-03-27. Retrieved 2021-03-29. Ufton died at the age of 92 in March 2021.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ufton, Derek 1928 births 2021 deaths English cricketers Kent cricketers English footballers English football managers England international footballers Charlton Athletic F.C. players Plymouth Argyle F.C. managers English Football League managers People from Crayford Footballers from the London Borough of Bexley People educated at Dartford Grammar School Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers Presidents of Kent County Cricket Club Association football defenders Association football coaches 20th-century British Army personnel Royal Army Service Corps soldiers Wicket-keepers