Eric Charles Lancelotte (26 February 1917 – 1 September 2007) was a British 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 le ...

who made 100

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 ...

appearances playing as an inside forward for Charlton Athletic and Brighton & Hove Albion either side of the Second World War. He also played

non-league football Non-League football describes football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is specifically used to de ...

for Romford,

Chippenham Town Chippenham Town Football Club is a semi-professional football club club based in Chippenham, Wiltshire, England. They are currently members of and play their games at Hardenhuish Park. History The club states it was established in 1873,

, Hastings United,

Ashford Town (Kent) Ashford United F.C. are an English football club based in Ashford, Kent. The 'new' United was formed in 2011, resurrecting the name used by the town's football club between 1891 and 1907. Following the demise of the original Ashford United cl ...

and Folkestone Town.

Life and career

Lancelotte was born in 1917 in Jhansi, India, where his father was a regimental sergeant major, and raised in the Woolwich area of London. He began his football career with Romford, signed for Charlton Athletic on amateur forms in 1933, and turned professional in 1935. He made his debut in 1937, but his career was interrupted by the Second World War. He served in the RAF, made guest appearances for clubs including Millwall, Stockport County and Watford, and was a member of tour parties that played football matches to entertain the troops. He returned to Charlton after the war, and contributed to their

1946–47 FA Cup The 1946–47 FA Cup was the 66th season of the world's oldest football cup competition, the Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup. Charlton Athletic, the previous season's runners-up, won the competition for the first ...

run, but lost his place before the semi-final and took no part in the final. After 60 First Division appearances by February 1948, Lancelotte moved on to Brighton & Hove Albion of the Third Division South for a club record fee of £3,250. A clever, creative player rather than a goalscorer, he was an Albion regular for 18 months, but lost that role to

Johnny McNichol John McNichol (20 August 1925 – 17 March 2007) was a Scottish footballer who played more than 500 games in the Football League in England. An inside forward, he played more than 150 games for Brighton & Hove Albion and more than 200 for each ...

, requested a transfer, and moved into

. He played for clubs including

, Hastings United,

Ashford Town Ashford Town (Middlesex) Football Club are a football club based in Stanwell, Surrey, England. The club are currently members of the and play at the Robert Parker Stadium in Short Lane. They are affiliated to both the Middlesex FA and the Sur ...

and Folkestone Town, before acting as assistant manager of Bexleyheath & Welling. He lived in Whitstable in later life, and died in Canterbury in 2007 at the age of 90.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lancelotte, Eric 1917 births 2007 deaths People from Jhansi Footballers from the Royal Borough of Greenwich People from Woolwich English men's footballers Men's association football inside forwards Romford F.C. players Charlton Athletic F.C. players Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. players Chippenham Town F.C. players Hastings United F.C. (1948) players Ashford United F.C. players Folkestone F.C. players English Football League players Western Football League players Southern Football League players Military personnel of British India Royal Air Force personnel of World War II Royal Air Force airmen