I was saddened to hear of the death of Derek Ufton who died in his sleep at the age of 92. He was one of my boyhood heroes. Here is a tribute I wrote in 2020.
Unfortunately I missed the 7-6 win over Huddersfield because we were Christmas shopping in Woolwich. However, this is surely an appropriate time for a tribute to Derek Ufton, one of the Charlton team I admired in the 1950s: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-9076781/Englands-one-cap-wonder-Derek-Ufton-oldest-surviving-star-Three-Lions-aged-92.html
Derek often suffered a dislocated shoulder, but he is still going strong at 92, even after some ups and downs in his life.
He came from an era when in the summer quite a few players also played cricket (or baseball) while others earned a crust doing maintenance work on the ground. Wages were reduced in the summer and in any case were no more than a skilled worker would earn which is how owners saw them.
Derek played 277 games for Charlton, scoring no goals.
Voice of the Valley tribute here: http://www.votvonline.com/home/the-2020-21-blogs/27-3-charlton-legend-derek-ufton-dies-aged-92/
No comments:
Post a Comment