Reginald Malcolm Stratton (10 July 1939 – 21 May 2018) was an English footballer who played as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

in the Football League for

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandsworth ...

and Colchester United and in the North American Soccer League for Vancouver Royals.

Career

Born in

Kingsley Kingsley may refer to: People *Kingsley (given name) * Kingsley (surname) Places Australia *Kingsley, Western Australia Canada * Rural Municipality of Kingsley No. 124, Saskatchewan England *Kingsley, Cheshire *Kingsley, Hampshire *Kingsley, St ...

, England youth and England amateur international Stratton joined

in May 1959 after helping his club

Woking Woking ( ) is a town and borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in northwest Surrey, England, around from central London. It appears in Domesday Book as ''Wochinges'' and its name probably derives from that of a Anglo-Saxon settlement o ...

to lift the

FA Amateur Cup The FA Amateur Cup was an English football competition for amateur clubs. It commenced in 1893 and ended in 1974 when the Football Association abolished official amateur status. History Following the legalisation of professionalism within footba ...

in front of a 71,000 strong crowd at Wembley Stadium by scoring in the 3–0 win. He had won England amateur caps against Germany, Ireland and Switzerland in 1957. With Woking, Stratton had scored 64 goals in 123 games for the club, but could only manage one goal in 21 games for Fulham between 1959 and 1965. His only league goal came against Liverpool. Stratton rediscovered his scoring touch with Colchester United, where in 112 league games he scored 51 times. He made his United debut on 21 August 1965, a 1–0 away defeat at Port Vale and opened his scoring account with a brace on 1 September in the League Cup as the U's beat Exeter City 2–1 at Layer Road. In each of his three seasons with Colchester, Stratton finished as top scorer with 17, 24 and nine goals respectively, helping the club gain promotion to the

Third Division In sport, the Third Division, also called Division 3, Division Three, or Division III, is often the third-highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Association football *Belgian Thir ...

at the end of the 1965–66 season. However, after refusing new terms, he was placed on the transfer list, and in 1968 briefly joined Vancouver Royals in the North American Soccer League where he made four appearances, before the team folded. Following his spell in Canada, Stratton returned to England in the English non-leagues, playing for Brentwood Town, Basingstoke Town and

Dover Dover () is a town and major ferry port in Kent, South East England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies south-east of Canterbury and east of Maidstone ...

Personal life

Stratton is great-uncle to former

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 ...

and England midfielder Tom Cleverley. Stratton was also a keen cricketer and in his later years he and his family had many connections to Cove Cricket Club in Hampshire.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stratton, Reg 1939 births 2018 deaths People from East Hampshire District English men's footballers Men's association football forwards England men's youth international footballers England men's amateur international footballers Woking F.C. players Fulham F.C. players Colchester United F.C. players Vancouver Royals players Brentwood Town F.C. players Basingstoke Town F.C. players Dover F.C. players English Football League players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players English expatriate sportspeople in Canada Expatriate men's soccer players in Canada English expatriate men's footballers Footballers from Hampshire