Frank Blunstone (born 17 October 1934) is an English former
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 as an
outside left
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
Crewe Alexandra
Crewe Alexandra Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Crewe, Cheshire, that competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Railwaymen' because of ...
,
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 ...
and the
England national team.
[
]
Playing career
After surprisingly rejecting 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 ...
in favour of his home-town club, he signed professional terms with Crewe in early 1952. Following a string of impressive performances in Division Three North
The Third Division North of the Football League was a tier in the English football league system from 1921 to 1958. It ran in parallel with the Third Division South with clubs elected to the League or relegated from a higher division allocated to ...
, he was signed by Chelsea manager Ted Drake
Edward Joseph Drake (16 August 1912 – 30 May 1995) was an English football player and manager. As a player, he first played for Southampton but made his name playing for Arsenal in the 1930s, winning two league titles and an FA Cup, as wel ...
for £7,500 a year later while still doing 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 ...
.[
He made his Chelsea debut in a 3–2 victory over ]Tottenham Hotspur
Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. The team has playe ...
, at White Hart Lane
White Hart Lane was a football stadium in Tottenham, North London and the home of Tottenham Hotspur Football Club from 1899 to 2017. Its capacity varied over the years; when changed to all-seater it had a capacity of 36,284 before demolition. ...
in February 1953, scoring the decisive third goal. His early years at the club saw little success for the team, but in 1954–55 Chelsea became First Division champions, with Blunstone an important part of the side, though he continued to juggle appearances for Chelsea with his national service.
Between 1954 and 1956, Blunstone was capped
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 ...
on five occasions by England under-23's, scoring three goals, and also won five caps for the senior England team. He made his debut 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 ...
, creating two goals for teammate Roy Bentley
Roy Thomas Frank Bentley (17 May 1924 – 20 April 2018) was an English football player and manager.
A former forward, Bentley played 367 games for Chelsea and captained the club to their first League Championship in the 1954–55 season. H ...
in a 3–2 win. He also played in England's famous 7–2 win over 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 ...
at Wembley
Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in north-west Londo ...
. He also won two caps for the Football League XI The English Football League XI was a representative side of the Football League. The team regularly played against the Scottish Football League XI and other national league select teams between 1891 and 1976.
For a long period the annual fixture b ...
. Blunstone retired from playing in 1964 aged only 30, having made 347 appearances for Chelsea and scored 54 goals
Managerial career
Blunstone immediately joined the Chelsea coaching staff. He was later appointed Brentford manager in 1969 and led the team to the 5th round of 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 ...
in 1971 and promotion to the Third Division a year later. In 1973, after a disagreement with the Brentford chairman, he joined Manchester United which reunited him with his old boss at Chelsea, Tommy Docherty
Thomas Henderson Docherty (24 April 1928 – 31 December 2020), commonly known as The Doc, was a Scottish football player and manager. Docherty played for several clubs, most notably Preston North End, and represented Scotland 25 times betw ...
. Blunstone officially became assistant manager at United in 1976 after the departure of Paddy Crerand
Paddy may refer to:
People
*Paddy (given name), a list of people with the given name or nickname
*An ethnic slur for an Irishman
Birds
*Paddy (pigeon), a Second World War carrier pigeon
*Snowy sheathbill or paddy, a bird species
*Black-faced sh ...
, but he had been that in all but name since his arrival at Manchester United. Blunstone was also heavily involved in the reserve team at United, working alongside reserve team managers, Bill Foulkes
William Anthony Foulkes ( or ; 5 January 1932 – 25 November 2013) was an English footballer who played for Manchester United in the Busby Babes teams of the 1950s, and also in the 1960s. His favoured position was centre-half. For Manchester ...
from 1973 to 1974, and then alongside Foulkes' successor, Jack Crompton
John Crompton (18 December 1921 – 4 July 2013) was an English professional footballer. Born in Hulme, Manchester, Lancashire, he was a goalkeeper for Manchester United between 1944 and 1956. He was part of the team that won the FA Cup in 1948 a ...
, from 1974 to 1977. Blunstone later had brief spells as assistant manager of Derby County
Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group.
Founded in 188 ...
and manager of Greek clubs Ethnikos and Aris Aris or ARIS may refer to:
People
* Aris (surname)
Given name
* Aris Alexandrou, Greek writer
* Aris Brimanis, ice hockey player
* Aris Christofellis, Greek male soprano
* Aris Gavelas, Greek sprinter
* Aris Howard, Former President of the Jama ...
.[Profile at englandfc.com]
/ref>
Personal life
As of 2005, Blunstone was living in Weston
Weston may refer to:
Places Australia
* Weston, Australian Capital Territory, a suburb of Canberra
* Weston, New South Wales
* Weston Creek, a residential district of Canberra
* Weston Park, Canberra, a park
Canada
* Weston, Nova Scotia
* ...
, near Crewe. As of 2022, Blunstone is the earliest-surviving England senior international.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blunstone, Frank
1934 births
Living people
English footballers
Association football wingers
English Football League players
England international footballers
England under-23 international footballers
Chelsea F.C. players
Crewe Alexandra F.C. players
English football managers
Brentford F.C. managers
Derby County F.C. non-playing staff
Ethnikos Piraeus F.C. managers
Aris Thessaloniki F.C. managers
Chelsea F.C. non-playing staff
Manchester United F.C. non-playing staff
English Football League representative players
English expatriate football managers
Expatriate football managers in Greece
English expatriate sportspeople in Greece
Super League Greece managers