Norman John Catlin (8 January 1918 – 22 May 1941) 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 ...

, who showed considerable promise as a schoolboy which was not fulfilled as a professional with

Southampton Football Club Southampton Football Club () is an English professional football club based in Southampton, Hampshire, which competes in the . Their home ground since 2001 has been St Mary's Stadium, before which they were based at The Dell. The club play in ...

. He died in the controversial sinking of HMS Gloucester off the coast of

Crete Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, and ...

in May 1941.

Football career

Catlin was born in

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 popul ...

but moved as a child to the

Bitterne Bitterne is an eastern suburb and ward of Southampton, England. Bitterne derives its name not from the similarly named bird, the bittern, but probably from the bend in the River Itchen; the Old English words ''byht'' and ''ærn'' together mean ...

area of

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

. When he scored 17 goals in an English Schools Shield match in 1932, he made the national sporting headlines. In all he scored 62 goals in 13 matches as Southampton schoolboys reached the final. This prolific goalscoring form attracted the attention of

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

who signed him on amateur terms; he was shortly afterwards capped for the England Schoolboys. He subsequently returned to Southampton, joining the "Saints" as an amateur in June 1933, before signing a professional contract on his 17th birthday in January 1935. After playing in the reserves, he made his first-team debut away to Swansea Town on 28 December 1935, when he played at

outside-right 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 ...

as replacement for Arthur Holt. He appeared to find his slight build a disadvantage and failed to develop into the player that everyone had expected. After only six first-team appearances, his League career ended in March 1937, when aged only 19. He then played for Ryde Sports on the

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight ( ) is a county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the largest and second-most populous island of England. Referred to as 'The Island' by residents, the Isle of ...

, although he was re-signed by Southampton in 1938 on a part-time basis, without getting back into the first team.

Naval career and death

After ending his full-time football career in 1937, Catlin joined the Cunard-White Star Company as a clerk. On the outbreak of

World War II 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 ...

, Catlin enlisted in the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

. He was a member of the crew of HMS ''Gloucester'' when she was attacked by German

Stuka The Junkers Ju 87 or Stuka (from ''Sturzkampfflugzeug'', "dive bomber") was a German dive bomber and ground-attack aircraft. Designed by Hermann Pohlmann, it first flew in 1935. The Ju 87 made its combat debut in 1937 with the Luftwaffe's Cond ...

dive bomber A dive bomber is a bomber aircraft that dives directly at its targets in order to provide greater accuracy for the bomb it drops. Diving towards the target simplifies the bomb's trajectory and allows the pilot to keep visual contact througho ...

s off the northern coast of

and sank on 22 May 1941. Catlin was posted missing on 29 May, but is now confirmed to have died during the sinking. Of the 807 men aboard at the time of her sinking, only 85 survived.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Catlin, Norman 1918 births 1941 deaths Men's association football outside forwards English men's footballers English Football League players Southampton F.C. players Royal Navy sailors Royal Navy personnel killed in World War II Footballers from Liverpool Ryde Sports F.C. players Missing in action of World War II Military personnel from Liverpool

Football career

Naval career and death

See also

References