John Aston (3 September 1921 – 31 July 2003) 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 ...

. Like his son John Aston Jr., Prestwich-born Aston came through the Manchester United youth system and turned professional in December 1939. His debut for the club came almost seven years later, on 18 September 1946, against

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 ...

. Aston was a strong, tough-tackling

left-back 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 s ...

who also played as a centre forward for his club on occasion. He won 17

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 ...

caps between 1948 and 1950, all at left-back, and featured in the

1950 FIFA World Cup The 1950 FIFA World Cup was the fourth edition of the FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football championship for senior men's national teams and held in Brazil from 24 June to 16 July 1950. The planned 1942 and 1946 World Cups were ...

. He played in the

1948 FA Cup Final The 1948 FA Cup Final was contested by Manchester United and Blackpool at Wembley Stadium on 24 April 1948. United, who had not appeared in an FA Cup Final for 39 years, won 4–2, with two goals from Jack Rowley and one apiece from Stan Pearson ...

triumph over Blackpool at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 2002 to 2003. The stadium ...

. He left the club in 1954 after scoring 30 goals in 284 appearances. Aston returned to the club as Youth Team coach in the early 1960s and was then Chief Scout under new manager

Wilf McGuinness Wilfred McGuinness (born 25 October 1937) is an English former football player and manager, who played twice for England in his short playing career. He succeeded Sir Matt Busby as manager of Manchester United in 1969. Following his tenure at ...

in 1969, and had a three-year spell in the position before being sacked along with McGuinness's successor,

Frank O'Farrell Francis O'Farrell (9 October 1927 – 6 March 2022) was an Irish football player and manager. He played as a wing half for Cork United, West Ham United and Preston North End. He made over 300 appearances in the Football League before joining ...

in late 1972. Aston was also reserve team manager when McGuinness was manager, although McGuinness became reserve team manager again after he got sacked as manager in December 1970. Aston died in July 2003 at the age of 81.

Honours

Manchester United * First Division: 1951–52 *

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 ...

: 1948

External links

Manchester United profileEngland profileObituary in The Times
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aston, John Sr. 1921 births Sportspeople from Prestwich English footballers England international footballers 1950 FIFA World Cup players Manchester United F.C. players English Football League players Association football fullbacks 2003 deaths English Football League representative players FA Cup Final players