Kenneth John Shellito (18 April 1940 – 31 October 2018) 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 ...

and

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities ...

who played for Chelsea from 1959–1965, and subsequently managed the club from 1977–1978. He worked in a coaching role for the

Asian Football Confederation The Asian Football Confederation is the governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal in some countries/territories in Asia and Oceania. It has 47 member countries most of which are located in Asia. Australia, formerly i ...

, based in

Kuala Lumpur , anthem = ''Maju dan Sejahtera'' , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Malaysia#Southeast Asia#Asia , pushpin_map_caption = , coordinates = , sub ...

, before spending his later life in

Inanam Inanam is a suburb and sub-district of Kota Kinabalu in Sabah, Malaysia. It is situated 10 kilometres from the city centre. History OKK Majimbun Majangkin is known as one of the key player in Inanam development. During the World War II, Inana ...

Sabah Sabah () is a state of Malaysia located in northern Borneo, in the region of East Malaysia. Sabah borders the Malaysian state of Sarawak to the southwest and the North Kalimantan province of Indonesia to the south. The Federal Territory o ...

as a permanent resident.

Professional career

Chelsea

Shellito spent his entire playing career at

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 ...

, signing for the club from Chelsea Juniors at the age of 17 and making his professional debut two years later against

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...

. He featured in

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 ...

's re-built Chelsea side of the early 1960s as an attacking full-back, helping the club win promotion from the

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

in 1962–63. However, as the side began to challenge for honours Shellito suffered a serious knee injury and despite several attempted comebacks, was forced to retire prematurely.

International career

Shellito made one appearance for

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 ...

, against

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

in 1963.

Managerial career

Chelsea

Upon his retirement, Shellito joined the Chelsea coaching staff and took charge of the club's youth academy in 1968. In the summer of 1977, he was appointed manager of Chelsea, succeeding his former partner at full-back,

Eddie McCreadie Edward Graham McCreadie (born 15 April 1940) is a Scottish former footballer who played at left-back, mainly for Chelsea. He later became a football manager. Career McCreadie started his footballing career with amateur Scottish side Drumchapel ...

. He managed to keep Chelsea in the First Division in 1977–78, but the highlight of his tenure was a shock 4–2 win over reigning European champions

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...

in 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 ...

. He left the club less than a year later, with the side at the bottom of the First Division and facing

relegation In sports leagues, promotion and relegation is a process where teams are transferred between multiple divisions based on their performance for the completed season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are often called open leagues. ...

Cambridge United

He was later manager of

Cambridge United Cambridge United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Cambridge, England. They compete in EFL League one , the 3rd tier of the English football league system. The club is based at the Abbey Stadium on Ne ...

, before becoming a coach in

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

Personal life

Shellito is married to a Sabahan native, Jeany Dison and have two daughters. One of the daughter is through his previous marriage in England.

Illness and death

In late 2018, Shellito was hospitalised at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital,

Kota Kinabalu , image_skyline = , image_caption = From top, left to right, bottom:Kota Kinabalu skyline, Wawasan intersection, Tun Mustapha Tower, Kota Kinabalu Coastal Highway, the Kota Kinabalu City Mosque, the Wism ...

due to

lung infection Lower respiratory tract infection (LRTI) is a term often used as a synonym for pneumonia but can also be applied to other types of infection including lung abscess and acute bronchitis. Symptoms include shortness of breath, weakness, fever, co ...

and kidney complications. He was treated by Dr Suren and Dr Shadtha during the hospital stay. Later Shellito was discharged on 30 October to die at his home in Kampung Minintod, Inanam on 31 October.

References

External links

Ken Shellito
on the Chelsea in America Celebrity Podcast ''(2009)''. {{DEFAULTSORT:Shellito, Ken 1940 births 2018 deaths English footballers England international footballers England under-23 international footballers Chelsea F.C. players Chelsea F.C. managers Cambridge United F.C. managers Chelsea F.C. non-playing staff Crystal Palace F.C. non-playing staff Expatriate football managers in Malaysia Sabah F.C. (Malaysia) managers Kuala Lumpur City F.C. managers English football managers English Football League players English Football League representative players English Football League managers Association football fullbacks Footballers from East Ham