Ernie "Mush" Callaghan BEM (21 January 1910 – 5 May 1972) 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 ...

. He played as a defender for several small clubs before being signed for

Aston Villa F.C. 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 Pa ...

in 1930. He played for them for 125 league games and in 17 cup matches. Some of his previous clubs included Hinckley Athletic, Atherstone Town, Cradley Heath, West Bromwich Albion on a trial and Birmingham City on a trial. Callaghan was a member of the legendary Aston Villa team that refused to perform a

Nazi salute The Nazi salute, also known as the Hitler salute (german: link=no, Hitlergruß, , Hitler greeting, ; also called by the Nazi Party , 'German greeting', ), or the ''Sieg Heil'' salute, is a gesture that was used as a greeting in Nazi Germany. Th ...

on their famous 1938 tour of Germany. During the

Second World War 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 opposin ...

he was also a constable in

Birmingham City Police Birmingham City Police was the police service responsible for general policing in the city of Birmingham from 1839 to 1974. The force was established by a special Act of Parliament in 1839, and was amalgamated as of 1 April 1974 with the West M ...

. On the night of 28 July 1942, he and Police Sergeant Harold Wood attended the factory of Gabriel's Ltd on Coleshill Street in Birmingham which had been bombed. They helped rescue trapped workers and with a civilian James Hughes the three men received gallantry awards. For his part Ernie Callaghan received the

British Empire Medal The British Empire Medal (BEM; formerly British Empire Medal for Meritorious Service) is a British and Commonwealth award for meritorious civil or military service worthy of recognition by the Crown. The current honour was created in 1922 to ...

(B.E.M.). He previously held the Aston Villa club record for the oldest first team player, being 39 years 86 days old when he played against

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 ...

in 1946. In his last game in April 1947, he was 39 years and 257 days. On 1 February 2011, American goalkeeper

Brad Friedel Bradley Howard Friedel (born May 18, 1971) is an American professional soccer coach and former player who played as a goalkeeper. Friedel played 84 games for the United States national team between 1992 and 2005, and represented his country at ...

set a new club record by playing a first-team game away at

Manchester United 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 City of Salford, Salford to ...

ages 39 years and 259 days. Callaghan used to be the groundskeeper for Aston Villa and lived in a house on site. He had two sons, Keith and Roy.

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Player Stats on fanbase
1910 births 1972 deaths Aston Villa F.C. players Atherstone Town F.C. players Association football defenders English footballers {{England-footy-defender-1900s-stub

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